Ron, the Animagus Extraordinaire
by Anendros
Summary: After seeing Sirius transform, Ron decides that he too will become an Animagus. His long journey will consist of many hardships, but they are at least entertaining to others!
1. Awesomagus

A/N: Thank you for looking at my story! Please leave a review and let me know if you want it to continue, Thanks!

Disclaimer: Characters in this story are owned by JK Rowling, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros. and probably a few others, I do not lay any claim to them.

_Ron watched horrified as Sirius Black turned from the black grim to his human form. How was it possible? He must be an Animagus… How could the insane mass murderer turn into an even more fearsome creature? Why didn't it snap his neck as he attacked him in front on the whomping willow?_

XxX

"Ron! The Dog, where is he?", Harry asked as he spotted Ron who clutched his badly wounded leg.

"Harry! It's a trap! Sirius Black, he's an Animagus!", Ron screamed while frantically pointing at Harrys godfather.

Sirius Black stepped into the middle of the room, a manic gleam in his eyes and intent on killing the traitor.

XxX

"Sorry for the bite, I reckoned that winged a bit…", Sirius apologized to Ron.

"A bit? A BIT? You almost tore my leg off!", Ron answered, shocked at Sirius' suggestion. Maybe he was mad after all.

"Ahh, I was going for the rat", Sirius informed him. "I have a very sweet disposition as a dog. In fact, more than once, James suggested that I make this change permanent. The tail I could live with, but the fleas, they're murder.

Harry grinned, while Ron looked like he was going to die from the pain. In reality, he was thinking about a certain thing.

XxX

Madam Pomfrey was sitting in her office, enjoying a warm cup of green tea. It had an immensely bittersweet taste, as a fairly liberal amount of Kama Tosi, the Japanese equivalent to firewhisky, had been used to help her relax. Thank Merlin for the two Japanese friends she made during the Medi-Magician training, they were now employed at Mahoutokoro and had sent it.

Floating in front of her was the newest edition of _Medical Magic _with its headline written in very elaborate letters:" _Magnificent Magic for Monstrous Maladies and Mortifying Mutations_ ", a fascinating article.

Just as the picture showing the transfiguration was getting to the most important part, the door opened and a very familiar voice shouted her name.

Harry Potter had been in her care so often, the little bit of her private "medicine" wasn't going to place him in any danger. But it wasn't him who was in need of medical attention, it was Ronald Weasley. That was going to be a problem.

XxX

Ron winced as the pain of the fly landing on his bandaged foot hit him. Then he screamed as Hermione tried to hit it with a jinx, but missed. After pleading to be killed to a profusely apologizing Hermione, the healer's methods came into question. He was sure that Madam Pomfrey had made a mistake, but didn't dare to question her skill as a Mediwitch, she had a fearsome amount of power over people confined to the beds and unable to walk on their own.

After cursing Dumbledore and his sadistic tendencies along with his two best friend's departure, he thought about what had happened in the shrieking shack today. Sirius Black was an Animagus, he had seen it with his own eyes. That was so cool… how did he do it? And how can Ron himself do it?

XxX

"But Madame Pince, I have Professor McGonagall's permission sign right here!", Ron said to her, his temper rising. He got angry to overplay the fear of getting caught.

It was a very crestfallen piece of paper that he presented to her and "**Ronald Weasley has Professor McGonagals permission to use the restricted section of the lybraby**" written in a badly faked handwriting was not very convincing.

"Mister Weasley, I am not going to argue with you. You are not allowed to get anything from the restricted section." Madame Pince told him, used to identifying permission slips and very familiar with the Handwriting of the Professors. Besides, seeing Ron Weasley alone in the library with the intent to study, without either Hermione or Harry alongside him, was about as likely as Dumbledore hating lemon drops.

"But I am allowed in!", Ron said angrily, his hands balled to fists.

'It's hopeless', Madame Pince thought. 'What should happen though, he is nowhere near skilled enough to cast any of the spells those books harbor... Will probably stay until curfew if I don't give in… I am not going to let him ruin my day.'

"Alright Mister Weasley, it seems that I have made a small mistake, you may go in. But only for 30 minutes, not a single second longer, understood?", Madame Pince informed him, as she weighed her day against any danger the boy might pose.

"Yes Ma'am! Thank you, Ma'am!", Ron said with a big grin.

XxX

_**Becoming an Animagus**__:_

_The process of acquiring the form of your spirit animal is very long and extremely Dangerous. Failing to accurately follow the instructions will result in dire consequences, most likely death._

_To become an Animagus, one must take a single leaf of a Mandrake plant, place it in his mouth and keep it there from full moon to full moon. If one is unsuccessful in doing this, either by swallowing or exiting the leaf out of the mouth, it must be done again. _

_At the next full and visible moon, the leaf must be transferred from the mouth to a glass vial that is being touched by a pure moonlight ray. Added into the vial must be: The hair of the wizard, a silver teaspoon of dew that has not seen light or been touched by human feet for seven days and the chrysalis of a Death's Head Hawk Moth. _

_This mixture is to be kept in an absolutely dark and undisturbed place._

_The wizard then must wait for the next natural lightning storm, magical help in creating such a storm will result in failure. In this waiting period, the wizard must chant the incantation "Amato Animo Animato Animagus" at every sunrise and sundown, without failure, while placing the tip of your wand over the heart._

_When the lightning storm is, the wizard must move to a secure and large location, chant the incantation one last time and drink the potion, then he will transform._

Ron was gaping. But he was also determined to do it, everybody always looked down on him for being the least interesting of his friends and so he wanted to proof that there was more to him than the cover of the book might tell you.

He managed to copy it all onto a parchment before Madame Pince's stare burned holes in his soul.

XxX

The Hogwarts express just left Hogsmeade station and Ron was looking forward to the Holidays. He had gathered all the ingredients that he had access to, and the ones he didn't have official access to. Hermione and Harry had noticed his increasing daydreaming as well as the great interest he took in his Potions, Astronomy and Herbology books.

On Hermione's congratulatory tone concerning his sudden change of heart in regard to school studies, he had laughed in her face and called her "bloody barmy". Harry was also dumbstruck at his best friend, seeing him in the common room with the Herbology book wide open and actually taking notes on how to successfully cultivate the Mandrake plant, without becoming deaf. And the worst thing was, he didn't tell them what he planned and both of them dreaded the day he would present his presumably finished work.

"So, Ron, what are you going to do in the holidays? Not much besides being lazy, I suppose?", Hermione asked, being provocative with the intent on catching him off guard.

"Yeah mate, like you would ever use the holidays to come between you and the couch.", Harry chirped in, as he and Hermione planned to get Ron to talk when they were on the train.

"Yeah sure, maybe Mom will even be easy going on the degnoming. The little buggers… did you know that the South American Coifón plant would make them move on their own, they can't stand the smell. Sadly, it's far too expensive for us to afford.", he answered very uncharacteristically. The redhead had anticipated a questioning of some kind, he wasn't as oblivious to them as they thought. They were taken aback by his answer.

"Are you excited for the Quidditch world cup?", Harry asked Ron.

"Are you kidding? What bloody maniac isn't?", Ron answered, being shocked at the implication of not being excited.

"I'm not.", Hermione answered, used to Ron's insensitivity. Harry giggled and Ron went even redder.

XxX

"Mom, do we have any Mandrake seeds?", Ron asked his mother as soon as they arrived at the burrow.

"What do you need Mandrakes for? Ron, I took a look at your Herbology grade and you will go deaf if I give you one, even if it's just a baby.", Molly answered back to her son.

"Yeah, I made a bet with Neville Longbottom. He didn't think that I could bring one past it's infancy, but I will prove him wrong!", Ron told her. "He has to give me his Herbology homework for the entire next semester if I win."

Molly thought about what the boy told her. "And what do you have to do if you lose?"

"Uhhh, I have to give him… I make Ginny go on a date with him, but don't tell her that!"

Molly couldn't hide the smile but was convinced. "Hm, Auntie Muriel sent a few over, she couldn't stand them. You can use those, they are in the garden behind Dad's shack."

Ron had plundered the greenhouses and taken as much leaves as he could, but he didn't think it was enough. And Percy could use the distraction, he was far more stuck-up than usual, however that was possible.

XxX

'That tastes like Merlin's asshair!' he thought and spat the leaf in a curious gnomes face.

But getting used to the taste before starting the process was a worthwhile investment.

XxX


	2. Happenings at the Burrow

XxX

"Ronnikins!"

"Rony, Honey, we need to talk with you"

"We were thinking,"

"that you could"

"use our help"

"with that little project of yours.", Fred and George both said as a verbal tag team.

"We're great with children, seriously, the younger years adore us. And we could use your expertise in being an annoyance, that coincidentally works with something extremely annoying, at a little project of ours." George, or maybe Fred, told him.

"Me? An annoyance? You two are some to talk", Ron snapped back, while abusing a very uncooperative baby Mandrake.

"Well yes, you are an annoyance, you're our little brother so what else would you be?", they both told him at the same time.

The kneeling boy sighed. "And how exactly would you help me with the Mandrakes?", Ron asked with less than true sincerity.

"We would make sure that they grow to the stage you need them at. We have our methods, believe us.", Fred told him.

"And what do I have to do for you?", Ron asked, not being very convinced by the two and their promise, they had proven to be bad at such things.

"You have to exhaust our dearest older brother, only a tiny bit"

Ron paled.

"You see, we have developed a little treat called "Marzipan Monsters" and you could be our very first customer for this it, free of charge nonetheless. The only thing you have to do is to smuggle it in Percy's food and make sure that he eats it.", George beamed at him.

"No, absolutely not. Not doing it.", Ron said and meant it.

"Well, well, how about that…"

"Would surely be a shame if your Mandrakes were just to disappear or destroyed themselves, wouldn't it?", George said with a beaming smile on his face. "You know Ron, those little things can happen very quickly."

"Yes I know, you have proven very capable at doing something like that. But it also would be a shame if Percy knew of your little Ministry unapproved and unregistered doings, I dare say…", Ron answered with a slight smile.

"It would indeed be so, yet we do believe that you, dear brother, would like to see the Quidditch World Cup in Person, and not be incapacitated in some way or another.", Both of them said, smirking.

Ron looked like he was staring into another dimension. "You… you wouldn't", he managed to stammer out.

"Oh yes, we would. Be certain of that.", they answered, their tone very sincere.

"Why were you two not sorted into Slytherin?"

"Oh, the Hat wanted both of us to go there, but you know how it would Weasleys in Slytherin would be viewed. But the Hat is really considerate of the students wishes, even more so after he gets threatened with scissors and being placed in the fireplace of the common room.", they answered in their usual mischievous tone.

XxX

He vomited onto a gnome. The gnome vomited onto another.

'Still tastes like Snapes undies.'

XxX

_Dear Ron,_

_Your increased amount of studying and schoolwork didn't go unnoticed by me. I really appreciate that you take such a big interest in your schoolwork now, it will help you later, especially with your OWLs. _

_I am really sorry and want to make it up with you for our many differences and quarrels we have had in the last year! I hope the two of us can be best friends again! I have given you my favourite book in Charms, Professor Flitwick recommended it to me, I hope you will like it._

_Who do you think will win the Quidditch Cup? I hope its going to be Britain!_

_Please write back soon!_

_Best wishes, Hermione_

'Bloody mental. Utterly insane.', he thought. "What sane wizard would study in the holidays? And Britain isn't even in the World Cup!'

XxX

Percy was sitting in his room and loudly complained about the task he had to complete. A standardized Cauldron Thickness is one of the most important structural parts of the Potions industry, after all. That the Ministry was not able to do it until now made Percy's blood boil more than the concoctions of mad potioneers.

Ron "happened" to notice the little outbursts and felt the steam coming out of his ears.

"Percy, do you need help with your work?", Ron asked, again very uncharacteristically for him, but the twins weren't joking, very out of character for them.

"Ron? Are you hiding from Mom, is she forcing you to work the garden? Has she finally come around to exterminating the Gnomes, she has been far to lenient on them… If the Ministry would be in charge of the garden, they wouldn't be tolerant of this plague.", Percy barked at him. The methods of the Ministry when it comes to dealing with "inferior" beings were apparently staring to sound convincing.

"Uh, yeah exactly. Now can I help you with whatever it is you're doing? I have something to relax if you want it, a new sweet from Honeydukes.", Ron said nonchalantly.

"How did you get something from Honedukes?", Percy asked. He got suspicious since his little brothers eating habits were known throughout the land, and that he could discipline himself enough to not instantly eat anything he had seemed far to unreal.

"Hagrid sent them to me. He said I should try them.", Ron answered, barely able to swallow from being so nervous.

"Oh alright, give me it". He bit down on a few of the white little rocks. The rocks turned into small, one inch large "Marzipan Monsters" and proceeded to break Percy's teeth. No, ripped them out of his jaw and he screamed in agony.

'Uh Oh', Ron thought and made his way onto a broom, better safe than sorry.

XxX

"So boys, what happened today?", Arthur asked. Molly was standing behind him and looked like a grenade without the pin. Percy, Fred, George and Ron were lined up, oldest with swollen chin and cheeks and youngest with still slightly smoking hair.

"Rons fault!"

"Twins fault!"

"All of them!"

"Twins, was that thing Percy ate from you? Do not lie!", Arthur questioned the two, while Molly developed a slight twitch near her left eye.

"Yes", Fred said. "But Ron made him eat it, he is equally guilty! You have to punish him too!", George finished. The two were well aware of the punishments their mother would come up with.

"You threatened to make me miss the World Cup!", Ron shouted at them.

"What an outrageous accusation! We would never threaten you with something like this! Oh you're going to pay!", George spat back while Fred grinned.

"BOYS!", Molly screeched. "Ron, why did you give this thing to Percy?"

"I just said, they would make me miss the Cup if I didn't!", Ron answered, slightly pale looking.

"Oh Merlin, Fred, George and you Ron will all be punished! I demand justice!", Percy boomed with the rage of a Civil Servant getting denied the states code of law.

"Okay, how about this. Twins and Ron get a punishment from Molly and you get one from me?", Arthur asked Percy.

"Me, why me? What did I do?", Percy asked.

"Percy, you set fire to Ron. That cannot go unpunished.", Artur answered to a very red-looking Percy.

"But he deserved it!", Percy spat back.

"I didn't! It really hurt!", Ron shouted at him.

"You shut up! You don't have a say in this!", Percy hissed at him.

"THAT'S IT! ALL OF YOU GO TO BED RIGHT NOW!", Molly screamed, her patience finally at the end.

XxX

"Ron? Can we talk with you?", one of the twins asked from behind the door. "Please, we don't want to fight! We are really happy with how you did it, the MaMos are going to be a hit with the Slytherins."

He opened the door and saw two clones in front of him.

"Really? You are not mad at me?", he asked with a suspicious look.

"No, we are proud of you! You showed us the potential of it, we are going to sell them at the World Cup. Probably will sell better than Fatal Fudge, imagine that.", Fred said with a dreamy look. They had made a non-literal killing with the treat, selling it off to OWL and above students that needed a break from it all and played dead for a few hours. Some were taking it to see how the Minister brain looked like.

"Yeah great, so you are going to help me with the Mandrakes? You promised!", Ron said to them.

"Yes we will, as good as we can at least.", George told him. "Which means that were not touching them, you are far better at it than we could ever be. We help you by staying away from them, isn't that great? See it as moral support."

Ron shut the door so hard that Ginny fell out of her bed.

XxX

He had the leaf in his mouth for 3 seconds, longer than ever before. Then he vomited, fainted and buried the gnome that tried to escape the putrid stench beneath him.

Yet he needed to get it done, the full moon was approaching.

XxX


	3. The Burrow Buzzes

XxX

_Dear Hermione,_

_Thanks for writing me, I hope you are well._

_Britain is not in the Quidditch world cup. How does it feel to not know everything? That's how you make us feel all the time, but you should see it as a learning experience._

_I too hope that we can remain friends and don't hate each other now._

_What is wrong with you? Why in the world would I ever study more? Can you explain that to me? And in the case that you have finally cracked and gone full on mental, please go to St. Mungos or one of these weird Muggle clinics you have, I'm sure you know what I mean. You talk about how your parents are teeth doctors or something like that, they will probably know!_

_Funny story involving teeth happened here at the burrow, if you want, I can tell it to you sometime!_

_And please have your mental state checked out, you going mad would be an absolute nightmare for pretty much everyone, especially me and Harry._

_Writing this much is really exhausting, so I will stop now, please write back and don't make it too long!_

_Ron_

Ron was feeling very confident that this letter would appease her. He didn't know it, but his sister had read his letter, doubted the faith she had in wizardkind and wrote her own bomb defusal.

XxX

Their Mothers punishment was fair and just. In Percy's view at least.

"You know Percival, I think our dear father has been a bit light with the punishment for you.", one of the twins said. His father's punishment was to "not bother me or your mother today", something that's not too hard to accomplish.

"Really? I think it is far too hard for any living thing to accomplish. As a dead thing, it would probably be easier, sometimes being dead has a certain ring to it… I'm sure you agree.", Percy said back to them, while he was comfortably swinging in a hammock attached to two brooms.

The twins and Ron were told to repaint the entire burrow, as it "needed a new look". Since none of them was of age, they were not allowed to use magic. Strictly speaking, doing it in a household with multiple adult wizards wouldn't have triggered the trace, weren't it for Percy and his unquenchable thirst for revenge. Therefore they did it all by hand, standing on giant, magically enlarged ladders. They were not very safe or comfortable, but that was a bonus of the punishment, in Percy's and Molly's eyes at least. Originally Ginny was told to watch them, but a little intimidation by a manic looking older brother, involving Marzipan Monsters and her food, were enough for the youngest Weasley to reconsider.

"I can't do this anymore! My hands are killing me and my feet are pretty much dead!", Ron shouted with agony.

"Well Ron, you shouldn't have done what you did, yet you did it and should be thankful that you're not doing what I did intent for you to do, shouldn't you?", a relaxed voice came out of the hammock. "Maybe my philosophy about being dead could be your savior, however that works."

Ron had to take a few seconds to encode it, but failed halfway through.

"Yeah, I suppose", he mumbled, not interested in another one of his brother's tirades. "But no matter how much you wish for me to fall down the ladder, I won't because I want to see the Quidditch World Cup." And a few other things, but they were not for the ears of anyone and especially not his brothers.

"Were going to see about that", Fred said to him. "Yeah, this work could get terribly boring and we might be in dire need of some family friendly entertainment.", George followed up. "A beautiful story about you and far away terra firma _falling_ in love, that could be something…", Fred fantasied aloud while George snickered. Even a small laugh came out of the hammock.

"If you do this, I'll make sure all of you are going to pay hell", Ron snapped at them.

"Oh relax, we won't do anything, Mum would kill us", Percy said. "After all, the house has to be repainted by the end of the day."

XxX

Full moon was going to be in two days, until then he had to get used to the horrendous taste. Just how was Ron going to keep it in his mouth for an entire month, that seemed to be an even bigger problem. And the Quidditch world cup was also going to be soon, with it came Harry, Hermione and their visit to the Burrow.

"Dad, when are Hermione and Harry coming?", he asked his father after dinner that day.

"Hm? Oh, I think we will go and get them very soon, shouldn't be a problem. Both of them live in Houses with chimneys, do they not?", he answered.

"Yeah, I think so"

"No problem then, is it?", Arthur asked.

"No problem with Hermione and her parents, but I don't know about Harry and his relatives, they hate magic and also Harry.", Ron told him, expecting the shocked look of his father.

"Muggles that hate magic? Why would they hate magic? And they hate Harry…. because he can do magic?", he asked his son with a shocked expression.

"Harrys relatives are bloody insane! They lock away his Hogwarts schoolbooks and other stuff during the holidays and don't allow him to even talk about what he did at school!"

"Ron, it can't be so bad. Surely we can change their view of wizards when we go visit them, a bit of the old Weasley _charm_ will have them swinging any stick they can find in the hopes that they aren't squibs. Don't worry, they will be as fascinated of us as I am of them.", Mister Weasley said back to him with his most cheery tone. "I just recently found out about one of the muggle inventions, it's called a telecone, or telemelon or something like that, has a very specific name. You can "call" each other with this machine, over extremely long distances nonetheless, immensely fascinating!"

"Uh huh", Ron stammered. Muggles are just weird.

XxX

Ron was sleeping safe and soundly in his bed, dreaming about Draco being locked in a room without a wand and only a very angry bludger to keep him company, when he suddenly got pulled by his legs and arms at the same time, first down beneath the covers, then up again.

He forced his eyes and could make out two masked figures with glowing eyes peering down on him.

"PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!", Ron screamed his lungs out at the monsters in front of him. They did not stop staring at him. "WHO ARE YOU?"

"It does not matter who we are, what matters is our plan. You should have respected our authority.", one of them started with an unrecognizable voice.

"Peace has made you weak, Victory has defeated you.", the other one finished, the voice also unknown to Ron.

"Are you happy now?"

"ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!", Ron screamed, got up as fast as he could, hit his head on the shelf and blacked out. A wet spot developed in the middle of the bed.

"The Vocal Volcanoes work pretty well, don't you think dear brother?", one of the two said with a very deep and smoother than butter voice.

"Indeed they do, indeed they do…", the other one concluded with the voice of a 4 year old girl.

The next morning, at the breakfast table, Ron was trying to make out what had happened. He was pretty sure that Mephisto and the Grim Reaper themselves had given him a visit, but couldn't be certain, since he was still alive. He didn't dare to speak of the incident with the rest of the family, the event with Ginny catching him bringing the wet bedcovers to the washbucket was enough. Fred and George had been the prime suspects, as they most of the time were, but they seemed to be remarkably unconcerned with their brother's glances.

He was sleeping under his bed tonight, that was for certain.

XxX

'Okay, this is it.' He thought and put the leaf in his mouth. It surprisingly tasted good!

'How… did a gnome… They must taste good because, because it's full moon. My whole tasting before was for nothing.', Ron got angrier as he thought so. "Damn you, Madam Pince!", he shouted and spat the leaf out. Then he panicked, but remembered that he had more of the plants.

'Good that it's full moon and I have enough, lucky there', he was relieved. But in the future he had to contain his temper, that was not so easy. Especially with his brothers on the loose and a still angry Percy after him.

XxX

The strange thing about Mandrakes is not that they look like babies and scream louder than Ron did during his nightmare of Aragogs Birthday Party (he was the special guest which Hagrid brought the giant spider as a present). No, it is the effect they have on Gnomes, the Coifón was not the only plant with such prominent properties.

In old folklore, the Mandrakes were once Gnome babies that did not grow up and started to become plants. When a witch or wizard touched them, they came to life and would begin the aging process that was denied to them so long ago. And even if they didn't want to become adults, this could not be stopped. Most Mandrakes do not want to grow up and are far more content with sleeping throughout their entire existence, the less you do the less you have to worry about after all. And for that case, they developed a special defense mechanism, which is to scream as loud as possible to kill or incapacitate the wizard that doomed their beautiful slumber, to have at least a bit of revenge. But it was all just folklore and fairytale, nothing that was ever true.

Yet they seemed to have a trance-like effect on the gnomes whenever they screamed. Every single, little Gnome in the garden of the Weasley family poked their tiny head out and listened to the gut-wrenching sound. And they liked it. They wanted to hear it more and be closer to it.

XxX


	4. New faces at the Burrow

XxX

_Dear Hermione,_

_My Dad, Fred, George, Ginny and I will be coming to pick you up tomorrow, sometime before twelve o'clock. In the afternoon we will be picking up Harry from his relatives. _

_Please have everything ready and packed, and don't freak out when you see my father. Dad is going to observe every single one of your muggle things and machines. You should say goodbye to your parents in advance, since they will be held hostage by Dad and his questions. The rest of us are going to floo back to the Burrow with you._

_In case you don't believe me about Dad, he told me himself that he was going to do it and talk with them as much as he can! Maybe it would be better if you prepared them for his assault._

_I'm looking forward to seeing you again!_

_Ron_

"Errol? Errol, please take the letter to Hermione and wait for her to give you her own letter.", Ron told the still sleepy owl. He attached the letter to her leg and she took off right through the window. 'Huh, Errol has gotten better with his aim', Ron thought. 'Maybe he is good for something.'

Errol then proceeded to crash into the broom of a Quidditch playing George, which only got worse since he thought it was a wild and feathery bludger.

Ron didn't notice, as the leaf in his mouth was far more interesting. It didn't really taste like something, well maybe except a little like gnome, but they probably peed on it when he left it in the garden. He did his absolute best to keep it in his mouth, but that was far harder than it sounded. It got even harder with Ron's eating habits (he seemingly had no control over) and the smell it emitted made him nauseous when he opened his mouth.

XxX

"Okay, we have written the letter and put it in the envelope", Molly said. "just how many stamps do we have to put on? Why are Muggles so damn complicated? What purpose do these things have?"

Molly and Arthur were sitting at the table, were about 30 stamps had been placed. Many of them were from decades long past, but those were the only ones Arthur had access too. The ministry kept all the letters that were sent from Muggles, mostly children, to wizards and witches they had seen do magic. They held questions about who they were, why they could do magic and how to learn it.

"I don't know Molly, let's put all of them on, just to be sure. I don't want the Muggle mail system to fail to send it, they apparently do that sometimes. One would think that muggles do their absolute best to finish things as quickly as possible, they often seem so helpless without magic."

They both hoped that the Dursleys understood what they did, after all Harry had told them about the magical world and how little wizards knew about Muggles and their lives.

XxX

"Alright everyone, let's go get Hermione!", Arthur said to his children. "Ginny, you go first, fairly likely that she misses you most."

Very much like matchsticks, they all stepped into the fireplace and emerald green flames engulfed them. At Hermione's place, they all got out of the fireplace and were greeted by an overjoyed brown and bushy, squealing head of hair. They all greeted each other, parents included.

"Hey Hermione, did you miss me?", Ron said to the smirking girl.

"With every hex so far, Ron", she told him and proceeded to give him a tight hug.

"Careful Hermione, our Ron here has got a very nasty case of stinky breath, I would not go near him if I were you!", Ginny warned her, but it was true, the Mandrake leaf had given Ron a very foul and smelly breath.

Hermione took a strong sniff and tears began to dwell up in her eyes. The lanky redhead really had a disgusting breath to him. Ron in turn, turned red, even more resembling a matchstick. Hermione started to cram around in her backpack and pulled out a pack of peppermint gum.

"Here Ron, take these, they will help you for now. And please brush your teeth more often.", Hermione told, or more accurately ordered, him.

"Okay, sorry. But it's not that I don't wash my teeth, it's something else", he told her, while a sheepish look formed on his face, he was still embarrassed.

Arthur stepped out of the Fireplace and had the most inquisitive look around. After seeing and greeting Hermione, he rounded on her parents. The father was quite happy to see the visitor, the mother not so much, as the rug didn't take well to the ash from the fireplace.

"Let's get out of here, Dad won't stop now.", Fred said to them, while eyeing his father with suspicion. The poor, poor Muggles.

"It was nice seeing you Mister and Misses Granger, we will be going now! And don't worry about Hermione, if you pay the ransom you can see her again at the end of the year!", Fred shouted while George snickered and both made their way back to the fireplace. Hermione sprinted to her parents, tackled both of them in a giant hug and also made her way into the fire. Ginny said her goodbyes and vanished with a small cloud of green smoke. Ron waved and walked to the fireside, hit his head on a lowered mantelpiece, said "the Burrow" with groans of pain and tumbled out of his home's fireplace, and then landed on his nose. His brothers all laughed while his mother and the girls rolled their eyes.

"Oh, how I missed all of you so much, all of this I missed so much!", Hermione nearly sobbed with tears of joy after hugging Misses Weasley. "When does Harry get here? Ron said in his letter that you were going to go and get him in the afternoon.", Hermione asked.

"We have to wait for Dad until we go and get Harry, which will probably take a few hours, he can't help himself when he has the chance to look at a Muggle home.", Percy told her.

XxX

Hermione, Ginny and Ron were all going up to Ginny's Room.

"Ron, just what exactly were you thinking when you wrote these letters? Did you honestly think that I would accept this apology from you?", Hermione drilled into him. "You should thank your sister for writing her letters! Otherwise I would have thought twice about coming here and going to the cup with you!" Her eyes burned with fury and the way she moved would have intimidated Hagrid.

Ron gulped and knew that he had to be immensely careful with his next words. "I, uh, I wanted to test if you really wanted to be friends again, I had to be sure. I am sorry for insulting you, I really am, I didn't mean to!", he replied carefully, something was up with her, she was normally a bit more chill about it, knowing Ron's insensitivities about these subjects. Ron knew that he often was a real idiot, but lately it just backfired far more than usual, particularly with Hermione.

The brown-haired girl eyed him carefully. "Hmph!", she closed the door against his already hurting nose. Ron screamed in pain, nearly causing the leaf in his mouth to fall out and with great effort he managed to suck it back in. After nearly choking on the leaf, he knocked on the door.

Only a muffled "Brush your teeth!" came as a reply. He made his way back to the living room.

"Why are girls so complicated?", he asked no one in particular. Fred and George shot him a quick glance but returned to a little pile of colorfully wrapped sweets in front of them.

"Maybe it's you, Ron", his brother Bill told him nonchalantly.

XxX

Arthur Weasley came back to the Burrow after he spent nearly eight hours in the home of the Grangers. Everyone was angry with him, since they were already late to get Harry and having him be with his relatives any longer than he needed to was not on anyone's wish list.

"Oh alright, I am really sorry, but I can't help myself, the devices the Grangers have are just far to interesting.", he replied to a ranting Molly. "Okay boys, let's go and get Harry!"

"Fred and George, please don't pull any pranks on them, Harry will get the payback if you do!", Ron told them before they flooed away.

"We won't do anything… just maybe one tiny little thing", George said before he disappeared.

The Weasleys went in, one after the other but they didn't come out one after the other. All of them were stuck in the chimney of the Dursleys and nobody knew what to do. After their father blasted the electric fireplace open and repainted the living room of the Dursley residence, they were finally face to face with Vulture Vernon and Parasite Petunia.

The muggles were not pleased by their entrance, the woman looked at them with a loathing gaze that sent shivers down their spines, while the man seemed to prepare for attack. They seemed to despise them for what they were, not for the way they let themselves in. Ron nearly died when he saw Dudley, his tongue was his life's savior by wrestling the leaf out of the airpipe.

After a very unpleasant time spent standing in a room being eyed by an oversized bowling ball and a skeleton that wore its weight in jewelry, while the twins went to get Harry's trunk and other belongings. Fred dropped his bag of sweets and they spilled all over the living room floor and he picked them up, except for one that Dudley got his hands on. They all got back to the Burrow, save for the Weasley patriarch, who had to stop the little Death Star from choking on a four-foot-long tongue. The little confectionery from the twins was at fault for this little drama.


	5. Gnomicide

**A/N: Hey folks, thank you for sticking by the story! I am sorry for the drop in quality and quantity lately, I havent had so much creativity and energy for the past few days, but I will try to get back on track as soon as I can! Anyways, enough of my self pity, enjoy!**

Crookshanks had a rather bad day. First of all, his servant abducted him during his very important nap time and pushed him into a suitcase. The words "I'm really sorry Crookshanks, but I don't believe that you would ever go into a lit and burning fireplace. Even if the flames are green, you would just run away and I have to catch you then! Please forgive me and I promise you that I will let you run free as soon as I can!" had not been very helpful to him, since he had to deal with being in a suitcase and fighting for his life with a seemingly living t-shirt that tried to strangle him. And all that from his servant and protector, times were changing and the cat did not know if it liked that.

Then finally, after it seemed like his fate was to be buried alive, the lid opened and the warm rays of the bright and beautiful sun shone on his face again. Hermione was very happy to see the cat again, but did not expect such an energetic greeting from her pet. Crookshanks jumped out of the trunk and on Hermione's face, his claws ready to show his gratitude.

"AAAHHH! CROOKSHANKS STOP IT! HELP!", Hermione screamed and tried to pull the animal of her face. Her screams were muffled since the cat looked like a very furry alien hugging her face, but Ginny had seen everything and jumped into action. She pulled Crookshanks as hard as she could, but the cat wouldn't budge and hissed furiously, while the tail tried to strangle it's owner.

"Wait Hermione, I got this!", Ginny shouted and whacked the attacker with her pillow. It caused the cat to fly though the room with a loud "MEEEOOW!" and out the window, after which it landed on Charlies head and continued the assault. "Shhh! Don't tell him that its your cat, he will kill you!", Ginny warned Hermione.

Charlie was not as bothered by the cat as the girls, just very surprised by the sudden attack. Since he was a Dragon handler, he dealt with bruises and furious hisses every day and Crookshanks was comparable to a mostly harmless baby dragon. He pulled the cat off his head, held it in front of him and stared into its eyes. It put an immediate end to Crookshanks attempt to claw his eyes out and calmed him down. Then he gently put the cat on the ground and it ran away into the garden.

In the garden of the Weasleys, the pet of Hermione Granger made its first encounter with gnomes. These peculiar little beings were practically created for Crookshanks to hunt. He observed his new home and terrorized the native population of the garden with his superior weapons.

After traumatizing most of the little beings, the mandrakes near the garden shed caught his attention. More accurately, the one that screamed when a bird picked on it, caught his attention. He wandered over to them and sniffed the plant. It was now somewhat larger than at the beginning of the holidays and they moved more on their own. Crookshanks patted the pot and it fell over, directly on top of his tail. He jumped and hissed in pain and unleashed his fury on the plant, which caused little bits to entangle themselves in his fur.

The gnomes dared to poke their head back out of their holes and saw the spectacle. And they liked it, they found it to be entrancing and most of them had already forgotten how the invader had treated them. Slowly and ever so carefully, they started to move towards him. They wanted to be near the godly creature that was just so magnificent and tempting.

Crookshanks noticed the myriad of gnomes moving in on his position, he thought that they wanted revenge, and so did his absolute best to untangle the mess he had gotten himself into. When he finally got free, 3 gnomes were already hugging his legs and the cat went in full fight or flight mode. It slammed the 3 attackers into the ground and sprinted like never before, after him an army of gnomes.

XxX

After the Weasleys had rescued hostage-in-holding Harry, the Dursleys would have called it home invasion with attempted murder, he was finally back in the magical world he so very loved. He had missed all his friends and the wonders of magic and, of course, Quidditch and was super hyped for the World Cup, which Bulgaria would win, now he only had Ron and the others to convince.

After helping his best friend heaving the big and heavy trunk up the stairs to his room and showcasing their talent at entertainment to Percy (who would have called it a public nuisance), Ron and Harry made their way downstairs. Ron did his best to talk in short and straight-to-the-point sentences as much as possible, the gum Hermione gave him had lost its flavor hours ago and the putrid smell again protruded from his mouth.

When they got to the kitchen, they had to dodge a mentally unstable Molly that blamed the fauxpas of the cooking food on the twins, which was probably true. The two and the girls grabbed plates and cutlery and prepared the dinner table in the garden, at least on what was left of the table. Bill and Charlie had let them clash and fight for their entertainment.

While they ate they had to listen to Percy and his unhealthy obsession with his boss Mr. Crouch. Watching Crookshanks become the god of the gnomes was thoroughly entertaining, even more so after it came clear that he didn't want to assume godhood.

"So Ron, what did you do in the holidays? Did something come between you and the couch?", Harry asked him.

"Huh? Yeah, I… no, nothing at all came between, was lazy the entire time. You?", Ron said back, nearly spilling his secret and leaf.

"I have something that I have to tell you later, after we are finished with the meal.", Harry said to both of them in an overly secretive manner, he was not fit to be a spy. "What did you do, Hermione?"

"Not much, I read about magical history and how this year is most likely the 1000th birthday of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!", she said with a big smile plastered on her face. "The exact founding date is not known, but most magical historians say that it was founded in 994, we're so very lucky to be at school during this exciting period, don't you think? I mean, how many have that chance?"

"Its not the only thing that's exciting school news this year", Percy said as he had overheard their conversation and his father seemed to have taken an impromptu nap.

"Don't ask him what it is, he has been trying to get me to ask him the entire holidays, but didn't tell when I did. Its something important and the entire ministry is apparently buzzing because of it.", Ron told them after they looked at Percy.

After they had finished with Molly's excellent meal, they all went to bed, tomorrow was a big day after all. But before they said goodnight to each other, Harry pulled them aside and told them what he couldn't tell before.

"My scar has been hurting extremely often lately and I have had the same recurring nightmare nearly every night! Something is happening and I already wrote to Sirius, but it always takes a long time to get the mail to him, since he is still on the run from the ministry.", he said to them.

"Where is he? Is he still in the country?", Hermione asked.

"I don't think he is, but I don't know exactly where he went to", he told them just as Molly made her way to their hiding spot.

"Now, all of you go to bed, after all you have to get up early tomorrow!", she hushed them into their rooms. "Alright, good night all of you!", she told them and closed the door.

"Harry?", Ron asked with a very quiet voice.

"Yeah, whats up?", Harry answered him.

"Do you think it's possible that I write to Sirius? I want to ask him how Azkaban is and how he escaped, no other wizard has managed that before after all.", he asked him cautiously.

"Uhm, I don't know if that's a good idea, with your Dad and Percy working at the ministry after all, but you can write him with Hedwig, I don't think that's going to be a Problem, I just don't know if he will respond to your questions as you hope he does.", Harry told him.

"Alright, thanks mate. Good night!"


	6. Going to the World Cup

XxX

The next morning, Ron and Harry were awoken far too early for the likings of civilized wizards.

"Why do we have to get up so early again? Can't we just use the brooms to fly to the portkey?", Ron asked the houseplant that looked the most like his father.

"What's a portkey?", Harry asked but got ignored.

"Ron, you know why. Percy hid the brooms to punish you along with the twins and he doesn't care about Ginny and our two guests. Says he wants to make an example of collective punishment and set Harry, Hermione and your sister against you three.", Arthur told him moodily. "And by Merlin, I know that the ministry has overworked him. Think he knows the code of magical law by heart… that won't end well, an overambitious bureaucrat in my house, its only a matter of time before he blows up my castle.", Mr. Weasley finished with his gaze fixed on the garden shed. Crookshanks must have been on top of it for the whole night. "Oh, and one thing son. If you plan on making any moves on the ladies at the world cup, I suggest you brush your teeth."

Harry meanwhile had asked the twins, but they were focused on hiding their Marzipan Monsters, Vocal Volcanoes and other confectionary in magically enlarged pockets. Only a small pile was placed in sight for their mother, she had to be left with the belief that she neutralized a disastrous world cup. But the market, that was the coming together of the international community of wizards, was just too large to ignore and Goblins don't gift Galleons.

"Mr. Weasley, what is a Portkey?", Harry asked.

"Hm? Oh Harry, sometimes I forget that you grew up with such vile muggles, I normally meet muggles that are very interested in the magical world and have better manners than most wizards. But exceptions make the rules or however that Muggle saying goes. You see, a Portkey can bring you from one place to another in an instant, very much like apparating.", Mister Weasley explained. "I can tell you that it's not very pleasant, but it gets you where you want to be!"

Hermione and Ginny came down the stairs, both of them looking very tired. It was obvious that someone had explained the situation to them, and neither was in a pacifistic mood. Ginny shot a look at the twins, both of which visibly gulped and Hermione kicked Ron in the shin, causing him to yelp in pain, after which he hit his head on the table he meant to grab on to. The parents sighed while the children sniggered, it was far too early for such shenanigans.

"Okay everyone, lets move, we have to catch our ride!", Mister Weasley ordered and they all said their goodbyes, threw a dungbomb in Percy's room and wandered off. After a brisk walk on which they stumbled far too often, they met Amos Diggory and his son Cedric at the site of the portkey. Ron had to fight the desire to sleep while Harry wondered why Cedric seemed to sparkle in the early morning sun. Ginny and Hermione blushed and giggled when Cedric greeted them. The twins were still mad at him because of the Quidditch game last year and planned to gift him a few MaMos.

After exchanging their greetings, they grabbed onto the Portkey and it sent them on a journey to far away lands.

XxX

Crookshanks had a rather bad night. After being chased by dozens of little devils, he had to seek refuge on top of the garden shed. That would not have been the biggest problem, weren't it for the gnomes that all tried to climb up to him and be his company for the night. After hours of chasing around the roof and knocking down all the little creatures that managed to get up to his level, he was exhausted. The poor cat was so exhausted, that it nearly fell off the roof, but could hold onto the ledge. His phenomenal array of circus stunts made so much noise that Percy's window opened and a stinging hex was fired out of it, headed straight for Crookshanks.

His behind and the hex impacted and with a loud "MEEEOOOOW!" he went flying through the air and landed in the garden pond. Unfortunately, the fish in the pond happened to be distant cousins of the South American piranhas, but most of them were well fed from the animals that wandered into it for a late-night drink. But only most were fed, a few were still hungry and when such a tasty snack lands in the middle of your home, you don't say No. While Crookshanks was trying not to drown, a very sharp set of teeth bit in his already sore backside. With a speed rivaling the great squid in the black lake, Crookshanks raced to the shore.

After drying himself as best as possible, he made his way back to the Burrows front door. To his horror, all those that lived there were fast asleep and no matter how loud he pleaded, he was not let in. All were in the land of dreams, save Percy, but he and the cat would never become friends after this night. Back to on top of the garden shed it was, at least there he was save from the brave gnomes that dared to taunt him.

XxX

Ron, his friends and the rest of the family had finally made it to their reserved tent. Dealing with a muggle (who was obliviated so often that permanent brain and memory damage was inflicted on him) was a hassle, the Ministry should not be left in charge of organizing such a large event. Going through rows upon rows of tents with witches and wizards from all over the world in them, they even met a few friends from school, was an experience for which he was far too sleepy. Thankfully, all the people seemed to avoid him, probably the fault of the leaf in his mouth and his half-asleep state. When he had entered his room, he went straight to bed and drifted of to the Land of Dreams. Soon after, Percy, Bill and Charlie showed up, the two oldest doing their best to keep the 3rd oldest calm and collected,

"Ron, please tell Dad that were going out!", one of the twins shouted right into his ear.

"Wha…what is going on… where are you going?", Ron replied. He was lying spread-eagled on his bed and not aware what time it was. With a loud bang, the door to his room closed and his awakening was all for nothing, the twins were out before he could open his eyes and only roused him to be annoying.

'Damn them', he thought and went back to sleep.

Hermione, Harry and Ginny were all sitting at the table and talking about what they had done in the holidays. After Ginny had told them the story about Percy and the twins sweets, Harry was panting for air and Hermione's face had the color of her friends hair.

"I noticed the new look on your house, they really did it all by hand?", Harry asked and Ginny nodded.

"Ginny, can I ask you something else?", Hermione said and Ginny looked at her. "What is it with Ron? You must have noticed the, well I don't want to be rude but, stench out of his mouth, do you know what's going on there? He didn't have such smelly breath anytime before, I would have remembered.", Hermione asked and hoped to not have offended her.

"Honestly guys, I don't know what's going on with him. He brushes his teeth more often than ever before. He does it regularly in the morning and evening, like the rest of the family, but I noticed him doing it more than 5 times per day! He always tries to hide it, but since he is Ron, he is not very good at it.", Ginny replied. "I don't know if he is sick or if he brushes them with Pigwidgeons poop, but he does it far more often than the rest of us! I don't want to talk about it with him, since he would probably get angry and besides, I like it when he doesn't talk that much."

"That's weird, really weird.", Hermione concluded and Harry nodded.

XxX

The Weasleys and companions made their way up to the top of the gigantic stadium. Alongside them went thousands and thousands of witches and wizards from all over the world, dressed up either in the colors of the two finalists or the colors of their own nationality. It was a massive spectacle and so they didn't notice someone, and they used it to their advantage.

"Arthur, what did you have to sell to get seats at the very top? Your house? A few children?", Lucius Malfoy sneered at Mr. Weasley. He turned around and spotted Lucius, Narcissa and Draco. He knew that he had to control his temper or security might throw them all out.

"What a pleasure to meet you here, Lucius! I didn't quite catch that, can you repeat it?", he told him after consideration and spotting the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, making his way to them.

Lucius rolled his eyes and repeated: "What did you have to sell to get seats at the top? Your house? A few…" "Now, now Mr. Malfoy, that's no way to talk at such an event, is it?", Fudge interrupted him, a rather stern look in his eyes.

Malfoy senior turned around, his wand ready to be drawn. "Oh Minister, I didn't see you there", Lucius replied, clearly annoyed at being interrupted by someone he couldn't bully into defeat. "How nice meeting you here! I don't think that you have met my wife Narcissa and my son Draco already?"

While the Malfoys and the Minister exchanged pleasantries, Ron sneaked over and tipped Draco on the shoulder. As soon as he turned around, Ron let out all the air in his lungs, directly into his face. Draco's eyes went blank, his mouth opened and closed and he fainted. Ron barely had time to run up the stairs before the screaming started. After he had settled in his seat, his father made his way up to him.

"Ron, the Malfoy boy fainted and he, alongside his mother had to be brought to the hospital. I suppose that you had something to do with that?", Arthur asked.

Ron swallowed and started to sweat. "Because if you did, I couldn't be prouder! Doesn't even bother me that Lucius, that old git, swore revenge. It was just so fun to watch him panicking, the trip here was worth it alone for that!", his father told him with a big smile on his face.

"Whew!", Ron let out the air he was holding, and the little house elf next to him had to breathe exactly at the same time. Winky vomited, her fear of heights and this was too much for the brave elf. Hermione did her best to comfort her, but was not very successful at it. She was interrupted by the booming voice of the Minister, announcing the start of the game.

Then the Bulgarian team mascots came- the Veela. It was the most beautiful sight Ron had ever seen, they were so beautiful, so very beautiful, that they couldn't be human. His mind went totally blank and the happiest feeling he ever had fulfilled him as soon as the music started. He leaned on the railings and gaped. 'I must impress them, I just have to do something!', he thought while drooling at the beautiful sight in front of him. The mandrake leaf got loose and started to slide. It slid faster and faster to the end of his tongue, it was dangling more and more and he did not notice. Then it was too late, the music stopped and Ron was back in reality. He smelled the leaf, the last tiny bit still connecting with his tongue and he had to act. But all in vain, the leaf left him and fell down.

"WEEEAAAASLEEEEEYYYY!", the voice of Lucius Malfoy roared as he looked up. The stinking, wet leaf of a Mandrake slowly sliding down his forehead.

'NO!', Ron thought and blacked out.

XxX


	7. The Worldcup

XxX

Hermione had watched her two friends make absolute fools of themselves when the Veelas came onto the pitch and performed their show. Watching, she found herself revolted at the simplemindedness of the male brain during puberty. While pulling an insane Harry back behind the railing, she saw Ron being remarkably focused on the spectacle in front of them, but not at all aware of the tumorous thing that came out of his mouth. Then the music stopped and reality took over the wheel, Ron's excess demon soul left his body and he blacked out while a bloodcurdling scream terrorized their ears.

"RON! Ron, wake up!", Hermione shouted in his face while slapping his face with ludicrous speed.

"WHAT? AAAH STOP! Hermione, I can hear you! STOP IT!", Ron begged for the pain to stop.

"Ron, what came out of your mouth? What was that?", Hermione asked him pointedly.

His look was questioning at first, then shocked and finally sad when his tongue could not find the leaf. "Nothing.", he told Hermione.

"What came out of your mouth was not nothing, it was something! I saw something come out and fall down.", Hermione argued. Then the realization hit her, Ron's breath did not stink anymore. Whatever came out must have made Ron this biochemical weapon. "If you're not going to tell me what came out, I will… We will talk about this after the game, as soon as possible!"

Hermione intensely stared into his eyes and after checking that he was alright, went back to her seat. He knew that he was in for it now.

In the meantime, the Irish National team had made their entrance. Harry and the Weasleys had taken a leprechaun hostage and were currently negotiating for money or a lifetime of servitude to Molly.

Then the game started. An ocean of adrenaline was pumped into the stadium and the high-octane action began. The Beaters used never before seen brutality on the bludgers, bashing them like bombs on the opposing bastards and barbarians. Chasers dashed and darted through the air, doing stunning feats of sports and acrobatics with a quivering Quaffle. The seekers swished, swooshed and swept above the shocked spectators, using aggressive acceleration and astounding agility to snatch the Snitch. The Crowd roared at every goal, booed at every foul and held their breath at every highlight.

Harry and Hermione were enjoying and eagerly awaiting the next big thing, but Ron now felt the full force of his loss.

It was gone, his weeks of hard work, his entire progress simply slid down Malfoys forehead. And he was sure that Draco would exact revenge on him at school, he would bully him even more than he already did. All for nothing, why did he even start? He couldn't have finished it anyway, he is just Ron Weasley, the stupid, useless and untalented sidekick. The only thing he wanted is to prove that he is as valuable, skilled and desirable as Harry and Hermione… and he was going to do it! An enemy goal doesn't mean the game is lost, after all. He would start the next full moon and this time he would do it better. He had to do it better.

Ron's eyes returned to the battlefield, and everyone was watching the Bulgarian player Viktor Krum, the best seeker in the world. And this best seeker in the world held the most desirable Snitch in Quidditch in his hand, he had caught it. The game ended, not with a Bulgarian victory, but with an Irish. Fred and George screamed in joy, they had won their bet with Ludo Bagman.

XxX

Hedwig had been on a long flight. She was carrying Sirius letter back to the burrow, even though she could sense that Harry was not there. It was just far too exhausting to fly all the way to Wales to bring him some stupid piece of paper that he has no real use for anyway.

'Stupid Voldemort, should stay dead when he gets killed… I mean what was he thinking, what civilized lizard does this?', she thought while smelling Misses Weasleys grilled bacon. The owl did a sharp dive and came to sit on top of the garden shed, next to a curious looking red ball of fur. A peck later, the red ball of fur came to life and took the form of a battered looking cat.

The two animals looked at each other suspiciously and slowly moved in closer. Crookshanks took a sniff of the owl and considered. Then he turned and dropped on his back, stretched and showed Hedwig that he wanted to play. Hedwig knew the cat since the beginning of last year and the two had become friends. They did many things together, while they were with their owners at the black lake, hunting squirrels was one of their favorites. But now it seemed that there was a new opponent that had to be dealt with. Crookshanks had gotten up and pointed his paw at the many holes in the garden where the gnomes lived and then let a claw slide across his throat. It was something he had learned from Ron last year, when he communicated "You kill my rat, I kill you" to him.

Hedwig let out a low Hoot and thought how she could help her friend get rid of this plague. Misses Weasley opened the window and yelled "Come on in you two, I made you some breakfast!" to them. Of course, they didn't think twice about that and bolted for the house.

XxX

The attendees made their way back to the tent city, among them Ron and Hermione.

"Ron, what was in your mouth? I know it was something, I know it caused your smelly breath and I know that you are lying if you deny it.", Hermione told him. Both had dropped behind their companions a bit, although one didn't do it out of free will.

Ron knew that lying to Hermione was hopeless. With the amount of proof and evidence in her possession, it would only be a matter of time before she finds out what he wanted to do. Why does she have to be so smart? And why must she make a bigger fuss than usual about the small things, especially with what he does wrong?

"Alright Hermy", she hit him on the upper arm," Hermione, I will tell you the story about little Ron and his big dream. But only if you promise that you won't tell anyone, absolutely no one!", Ron said to her with the voice of an overambitious narrator. "…Alright, but only if it's not dangerous for you!"

"Then we shall begin. A long time ago, there was a young Ron Weasley with his rat Scabbers. He and his pet had just been abducted by Sirius Black in his Animagus Form. The little boy was screaming for his life while being dragged along a dirty and cold stone tunnel. Then the two were brought into the Shrieking Shack and thrown onto an old mattress, waiting to be eaten by the big and scary grim. Yet woe me is not, the big and scary grim transformed into an even more hideous creature, all of which were too much for my young and fragile mind. But I had seen an Animagus in action, I was enthralled by its beauty and I believe you can think of the rest of the story.", he told with great emphasis on the wrong words.

"So, you wanted to become an Animagus on your own without any help? YOU ARE INSANE! Ron, doing this is extremely dangerous, if you do it wrong you could die or transform into a humanimal!", she berated him.

"Hermione, I know, I was very careful while doing it. Please calm down, you promised that you wont tell anyone! And before you tell me that I have to register at the Ministry, I know and had planned on doing it when I can turn into a fox!", he told her with a calm but firm voice.

"But how do… wait, a fox? How do you know that you will turn into a fox?", she asked him very irately. She was furious that he had attempted something like this without telling her.

"I don't know that, I just suspect with my red hair and living in the Burrow and being sneaky and all that.", Ron said proudly.

"Ron, just because you live in a "burrow" and have read hair, doesn't mean that the fox is your spirit animal! And you are definitely not sneaky, the most you are is creaky!", she hissed at him. Ron wanted to object, but couldn't find any arguments. Also, he was scared of a Hermione that was unreasonably angry with him. "Oh Merlin… does Harry know of this? Does anyone know of this?", she asked him while she tried to calm down.

"Nobody except you know this, and you are not ever going to tell someone! I want this to be a surprise.", he told her. In the background, Ludo Bagman could be heard screaming as he had eaten a few Marzipan Monsters.

"You are not going to do this alone! I know that I can't persuade you to not do it, you are more far too stubborn! I'm scared that you will turn into a fish or something and suffocate on dry land. Knowing how bad you are under pressure, you would probably forget how to change back.", she whispered at Ron. He did not see anything wrong with that, just less work for him.

They both went to their tent and caught up with the others celebrating Irelands victory. They were oblivious to the screaming and panicking outside.

XxX


	8. The Plan

XxX

The tent city equaled a roused hornet's nest. Death Eaters were running free and set shelters on fire, the Muggle family that owned the campground had been captured and were levitated above the attackers, having to endure torment and humiliation. One of the robed figures seemed to be avoided by the rest, every time he got to close, they scattered and made every effort to get away from him.

"There is no one like Krum! He's like a bird, the way he rides the wind! He is more than an athlete. He is an artist!", Ron said to his siblings dancing around him.

"I think you're in love, Ron.", Ginny teased him. "Oh, shut up!", Ron snapped back.

"Krum? Viktor, I love you…" "Viktor, I do" The twins chanted. "When we're apart, my heart beats only for youuuuu!", all the others finished.

"Stop it! Stop it all of you, we have to get out of here!", Mr. Weasley stopped their fun with a very serious tone.

The Weasleys, Harry and Hermione left the tent and were greeted by an apocalyptic sight. Tents and people were set aflame, curses shot through the air and the minions of the Dark Lord reigned with terror. Arthur, Bill, Charlie and Percy all went to help the Ministry to get the situation under control. The younger children were told to go and hide in the woods, alongside the other wizards.

Ron had just started to run, when a tripping jinx hit him and he fell straight on his nose. After figuring out where up and down was, he looked behind him and right at the man who threw the jinx at him. It was the Death Eater all the others avoided, standing with his wand pointed right at him. Ron was sure that he could see the hatred in the man's eyes from beyond the mask, which had a stark contrast to the blonde hair behind it.

He had to think quick and act fast, was this situation life-threatening enough to use his wand? Would Percy approve? The man aimed his wand, started to incant the killing curse and the staff trembled in his palm. Ron thought it was all over, his final words would be the love for Viktor Krum he harbored and an insult to his sister, just as Percy shot an Expelliarmus at the exposed wand and saved his brother.

A full out battle between the ministry wizards and Death Eaters broke out, while Ron sprinted away to the forest and his friends. He had just reached it when Hermione tackled him in a hug.

"OH RON! I thought, you, you were dead!", she sobbed. "Uh, yeah…", Ron awkwardly patted her on the head and tried to squeeze away. "Come on, we have to get back to the others!", they both started to run to the rest of the group.

They met the twins, Ginny and Harry in the forest just as the Dark Mark lit up the sky. Hermione commanded them to run and all went after her, far too afraid to think on their own. Suddenly 20 wizards popped up and started to fire Stunners all over and around them. Ron was far too lazy and slow to even attempt to seek cover and so got hit with two spells, sending him in a blissful slumber.

XxX

Hedwig and Crookshanks were both relaxing on the window sill, their bellies far too full to take any action against the gnomes. Molly's breakfast was delicious, but it was far too much for both of them and too heavy on the stomach. Then again, who were they to deny a free and satisfying meal, the gnomes wouldn't run away, yet.

The morning sun shone in their faces, the birds chirped and sung beautiful songs while the two friends were in seventh heaven. Molly had been making a lot of noise the entire morning, but it was not too bothersome, until now. "Out you go again you two, I have to buy the school supplies in Diagon Alley and you would ruin my kitchen if not the entire house. You can have the garden while I'm gone.", she told them while going up to the window. The two didn't move, they couldn't move. "I'm already late, so move!", she told them more sternly. "Alright, you asked for it!", she pushed them out the window. With a loud "MEOW!" and a frightened "HOOT! HOOT!" they tumbled on the dirty ground. "Sorry!" came from behind the closed window.

The nearly groundbreaking experience with the soil functioned as a jumpstart for both of their bodies and brains. The gnomes had become curious from the sudden rumble above their homes and a few intrigued faces popped out of the ground.

The stares of the gnomes and the pets met and the situation tensed. Crookshanks and Hedwig slowly moved back to their feet and walked behind the house. Then they communicated a plan on how to fight the plague. Crookshanks would lure them all onto a net that they spanned over the fish pond and Hedwig would loosen it and have them all plummet into the water, the fish can do the rest.

They snuck into Arthurs shed and crammed until they found a sturdy net and silently made their way over to the small bridge in the pond. After finishing their preparations, the only thing left to do was to get the attention of the gnomes. Operation Gnomino would begin.

XxX

"Ron, Oh Ronikins, wake up!", George tried to wake up Ron.

"Get up, come on now Ron, don't have all day, do we?", Fred gave him a light shake. Ron's eyes twitched slightly.

"Hm, doesn't seem to be working. Well, your choice Ron!", George said and started to unzip his pants. "Haven't been since the world cup, recon that I can put it to good use now."

At the zipping noise, Ron's eyes opened far and wide. "I'M AWAKE! AWAKE! Have Mercy, please!", he screamed and scrambled to his feet. He got to a halt 10 feet away.

"If we ever need another prank ruined, we'll let you know, you git!", Fred and George said sulkily and marched off.

'Bloody Hell, those two!', he thought. 'Where am I?', he asked himself. His back and stomach hurt and he was lying on the floor. The last thing he remembered was seeing a bunch of wizards apparate around him and a myriad of spells being fired off, presumably he was hit by a few of them. He could make out that it was still dark and he was in a forest, a few voices could be heard in the distance. Then his father, Harry, Hermione and Ginny came to him.

"Ah Ron, are you finally awake again, did the twins manage to get you going?", his father asked, inspecting the state of his son. The other 3 also checked him for any damage.

"Yeah, but you don't want to know how.", Ron told them. "What happened here?"

"Did one of them fart in your face?", Ginny asked, a hopeful glimmer in her eyes. "No.", Ron said to her. A disappointed look etched itself into her face.

"What happened Ron, is that a bunch of Death eaters attacked. They all got away, but the Dark Mark was cast. And you won't believe who did it and with which wand it was done.", Hermione told him. "It was cast by Mr. Crouches House Elf, Winky. You know her, you vomited in her face before the game!" Ron looked very ashamed.

"Which wand did she use?", he asked, swallowed and was somewhat relieved when he could find his wand in his back pocket.

"She cast it with Harrys wand!" Hermione said with a sharp look at the boy-who-lived. "Mr. Crouch let her out of his service and she seemed terribly upset! I tried to comfort her, but she wouldn't let me, I felt so bad for her.", Hermione's eyes teared up.

"Why would she ever cast the Dark Mark? House Elf's hate You-Know-Who, don't they?", he asked.

"Yes and the poor little thing sobbed and cried when she saw it, I don't believe she had cast it, I think someone framed her.", Mr. Weasley told him. "But Ron, we now have to get back to the burrow and tell your mother what happened. The Prophet probably already printed about the event… The ministry will be tearing quite a few new ones, that's going to be fun tomorrow."

They made their way back to the tent and Mr. Weasley packed everything up with magic. On the way to the keeper of the Portkeys, Basil, they came across the Muggle owner of the campground. He had a very dazed look in his eyes and tried to drink his coffee with a nostril, happily summing "Britannia rules the waves" while doing so. When they wished him goodbye, he told them "Merry Christmas!". Mr. Weasley told them that he had to be obliviated quite heavily because of what the Death Eaters had done to him, but he would be alright again. Fred and George teased Ron, saying that he had finally found someone with the same condition. He had a little fight with them, but could not fault them to much, losing the leaf was really immensely stupid of him.

They took the portkey back to Stoatshead hill and walked back to the Burrow. Hermione fell back to Ron's level.

"Ron, I've been thinking about your Animagus experiment. You should have been far more careful, but I will help you now. I think, that if you succeed, it would boost your self esteem and maybe even your school studies.", she told him.

"Hermione, you remember that you promised not to tell anyone?", Ron asked her.

"Yes, and I have not planned nor have I made a few hints. I want you to succeed with this, I think it would be really cool. But may I suggest you do something?", she asked him carefully.

"And what would that be? Ask Snape to give me a mouth freshener once I put it in? He would probably poison me.", he snapped at her, she promised not to tell anyone and Snape would likely figure it out.

"No Ron, I thought that maybe Professor McGonagall could help you with that, she is an Animagus herself!", Hermione pointed out. Ron stopped and looked at her.

"Hermione, do you know how much Minerva McGonagall likes me? She hates me! And I know that she is, but I want to prove to her that I am capable of doing this. That would put me in her good books for eternity!", he hissed at her furiously and she looked ashamed. It was true, Ron wasn't the Professors favorite student, but she didn't hate him, only his laziness.

They wandered along without saying much, Ron still hurt and immensely hungry, while Hermione was deep in thought and also immensely hungry.

When they arrived at the burrow, they noticed far more gnomes than usual swimming in the pond.

XxX


	9. Operation Gnomino

**A/N: Sorry for my short hiatus, I had to take a break. I hope to update the story every day this week, but can't promise to! Thank you for reading and please leave reviews!**

XxX

While cramming through Mr. Weasleys shed, Hedwig and Crookshanks had found an old cassette player, which still had a bit of battery left. The owl curiously wandered around it, accidently stepping on the play button. Stayin Alive from the Bee Gees blasted out of the machine, nearly startling both animals into retreat. Hedwig then hopped onto the thing again, trying to attack the noise seemed to be a good idea, and managed to stop it. Crookshanks had his paws over his ears and made small whimpers, shooting very quick glances on the table. After a few more attempts to understand the device, they figured out how to use the machine. With the net and cassette recorder they left.

Hedwig and the cat made their way over to the pond, carrying the fishing net and started to prepare. After close encounters with the waters that neither of them wanted, they were ready, the gnomes could come.

Crookshanks moved in front of the holes, carrying the cassette player. He made himself as tall as possible and prepared to dance. A paw pressed play and the Music started. Little heads popped out, investigating about the noisy interruption. What they saw was a cat, moving like a fluid, performing staggering feats of complex dance moves, accompanied by the best song of the century. More and more heads peeked and were soon entranced by the sight. They got out of their holes and started to dance themselves. Crookshanks hadn't noticed, he himself was gone, far away from the rest of the world, only the song and his moves mattered. Hedwig nervously observed her friend and worried when he didn't notice the avalanche of gnomes headed for him. She had to do something, or else he was doomed. Taking off, she circled overhead and feverishly hoped for the cat to notice. The gnomes were coming ever closer and it soon would be to late, it had to be done. She dropped a turd, on his head.

Crookshanks felt something on his head, interfering with the time of his life. He opened the eyes and dozens upon dozens of gnomes were speeding towards him, the apocalypse had come. But he could not stop dancing, not with this song. With more effort than he should be able to muster, he moved while still dancing. The gnomes followed, doing awful impressions of the cats absolutely perfect moves.

The column of gnomes disco-marched behind the cat, unaware that they were heading for the pond and a cold, wet grave. Hedwig flew overhead, scouting for any possible distractions. Crookshanks was now at the bridge, jumped over the water and landed on the opposite shore. The gnomes did not notice the pond and plummeted all into the net. Hedwig cut it loose and with a big splash it fell into the pond. It was done, Operation Gnomino was a success.

XxX

The breakfast stood on the table, just waiting to be eaten. Between the table and Ron stood his mother and the quite bothersome affection she had a seemingly unlimited amount of. The woman was crazy, getting between him and his food. She was playing a dangerous game, and she would lose.

Dodging the Hug she tried to give him, Ron sprinted past her. Molly grasped nothing but the air and stumbled. Ron, seeing the opportunity to get the best of the breakfast, gave her a slight push and she fell right into the rest of the Weasleys after which screaming ensued. The breakfast shimmered in the morning sun and Rons eyes were already eating it. But it would not be, as with a loud "HURGH!" and a tight grip around his neck he was pulled back into the Monsters lair.

Hermione had taken a firm hold of his neck, while the twins held his arms. All of them knew of Ron's love for food and his competitiveness at the breakfast table. None of them was having it and the rules had changed. Ron was held by his arms and neck, looking with a mix of puppy dog eyes and burning fury at all the faces he could see and was unwillingly ready for his mother's hug.

After an excruciating 8 seconds of Ron's whimpering and pleading, the hug ended and Molly went on to her next victims. Hermione let go of his throat and thought it was all over, but two certain brothers were still mad at him for ruining a, for them at least, great prank. They started to drag him to the front door, all the while Ron screamed for Mercy and forgiveness. At the front door, they pushed him into the garden and barricaded the door from inside.

"NOOOOO!", Ron screamed, while falling to his knees and stretching his arms skywards.

The others had enjoyed the little spectacle and started to plunder the breakfast table. Ron's hammering on the door got louder and louder, he was really angry, It had become too much for Harry and he went to open it.

"Wait! You have to make him come in peacefully or the whole room is going to be trashed!", Hermione yelled at Harry while munching an outstandingly tasty Molly-muffin.

"What should I tell him?", Harry asked.

"Tell him, that if he can't behave, we are going to spike his food with catastrophic confectionery!", Fred told him.

"Yeah, and he will be the unwilling tester for the Dummy Desserts, or better known as Devilish Diarrhea.", Fred grinned.

While Molly held a rant about the twins behavior and the horrible things they developed, the banging on the door got louder.

"Ron, if you want to come in, you have to behave! Nasty things will happen if you don't!", Harry's muffled voice came from the other side of the door.

"I am going to kill the two, I will hang them from their brooms!", Ron shouted.

"I would advise against it, they said that they would spike your food with a few of their sweets, don't think you want that!", Harry answered.

"They wont do that, because they will be beneath the bloody gnomes!", Ron screamed.

"Ron, please think about what you're saying. If you want breakfast, which I believe you do, you have to calm down and behave yourself. Otherwise you won't get any breakfast!", Harry said with a rather desperate voice.

"But, but they… Alright, I won't hurt them and I will behave myself. Now please let me in.", Ron told Harry, the breakfast was far more important than petty revenge.

XxX

Crookshanks and Hedwig sat next to each other, peacefully watching the pond and the many air-bubbles rose to the surface.

In the pond, the fish were roused. Many little beings were in the middle of their home, something that occurred rather often lately, struggling to not drown and survive. But what predators would they be, if they let it happen? It started, the fish circled around the net, looking like a maelstrom of misery and malice. The gnomes got scared, they were used to live in holes in the dry, dirty ground and not being sucked in a tornado in the deep water.

The first bite the fish took was of the first gnome that made it out the net. It was dragged along and shaken vehemently, but the fish let go. The fish that bit him, had gotten such a nasty and putrid taste in his mouth that it started to convulse and sink to the ground. The rest of the fish watched what had happened and got suspicious. More and more gnomes managed to leave the net and were floating to the surface, in desperate need for air. A second fish took a bite and the same fate came upon him, a horrible death would soon follow. The fish had seen enough and swam to the edges of the pond as fast as they could.

The owl and the cat were both immensely happy, they had won. Leaving the pond behind, they made their way to the lovely looking shade of the nearest tree. Behind them, little heads started to appear in the water, hastily swimming to the shores.

XxX

"Ron?", Hermione asked.

"Yeah?", Ron replied. He was sitting near the garden shed, wondering why the Mandrakes looked like they had a house party with 30 racoons.

"Can you show me what leaves you had in your mouth? I want to know if I can help you"

"Yeah, the ones from these plants here, the Mandrakes. Oh, by the way Hermione, what in Merlin's dear old senile mind is wrong with you? You thought that I would study more, where did you get that insane idea from?", he asked, not noticing his tone and implications.

"Will you shut it, Ron? I thought that you took your schoolwork a bit more seriously and I had finally gotten through to you, but no, lazy as ever. I'm not helping you with you homework ever again!", she told him, her voice rising. "But what did you say, Mandrakes? Hm, I think there could be something to help you with the smelly breath, I have to look into it.", Hermione told him and stomped away.

'What is wrong with her?', Ron thought. 'Must be the school stress, maybe I should hide her books.'

XxX


	10. The Battle of the Burrow

XxX

After calming down the active volcano his wife had become, Arthur Weasley walked out to his shed. A bit of calming down before the storm of the ministry arrived would be good, and his beloved shack would be the perfect port. Percy had already made his way there, going on a rant about his father and his so-called "despicable attitude and desertion of duties". His son really had to calm down, whatever it was that had made him so ambitious must have been a near fatal overdose.

He opened the door, only to find the interior in shambles. Everything seemed to be destroyed or out of its ordinary place. Arthur nearly fainted, what feral animal had found its way inside? Looking around revealed an even more destruction, if Percy had let a hex slip in here, he would pay. Weeping over the loss of his toaster, he stumbled back outside, in desperate search for the culprit.

The perpetrator was nowhere to be seen, only Crookshanks, Hedwig and something else were relaxing under the tree and escaping the heat of the summer. Arthur squinted and saw, no it could not be, it was his adored cassette player and the best song the Muggles ever created. However they got it was not important, it was time for revenge, hospitality would no longer be served.

Mr. Weasley marched over to the tree, Hedwig and Crookshanks watching him with great interest. His stomps roused both of them to their feet, neither wanted to be prey of prey-turned-predator. The man's hand reached for the machine, but Crookshanks threw himself heroically between the two and hissed furiously. Meanwhile Hedwig had made her way to a branch of the tree and watched curiously. Molly and a few of her children had also started to look out of the windows, the weeping from the shed was not as subtle as Arthur had hoped for.

"Oh, so you want to play this game? You have no chance against the Disco-Demon!", Mr. Weasley declared, dancing his body into the Dark Lord of Disco, a form he perfected over many years in the Muggle clubs.

"Meeeow!", Crookshanks answered and took up his majestic form, becoming the Dumbledore of Disco.

The battle began, the Deity of Disco against the Disco Devil. The music started playing and you could tell by the way they walked, that they were the dancing gods, no time to talk. Barely staying alive, dancing like a burning bee hive. Whether you're a mother or whether you're a brother, you were in awe.

You could feel the burrow breaking and everybody shaking, solely due to the dance-off of the century. Arthur and Crookshanks both moved so fast that nothing could stop it and survive, they had to stay alive.

"AH!"

"MEOW!"

"AH!"

"MEOW!"

_Stayin aliveeeeee- _the music stopped, the battery was empty.

Arthur and Crookshanks both stopped, the spirits possessing them left their bodies and they were back in reality. Mr. Weasley panted and looked at the cassette player, comprehension dawning in his eyes.

"NOOOO!" "MEEEOOOOW!", both of them screamed and the dust settled. Hedwig had a new, dirt brown look and the entire Burrow had to be repainted, again. The gnomes had watched the entire spectacle, but were unable to take part, since they had built new homes in the mud surrounding the pond and could not get out.

XxX

Fred and George would pay for what they did. There was no other way, hindering Ron from his breakfast was inhumane and barbaric, it was just unacceptable. Just how? How could the two monsters pay? Beat them with their own weaponry and feed them the sweets they made… they probably were prepared and had antidotes. Set their room on fire… No, mum would kill him.

"Ron, stop naming your turds! I am in dire need of the toilets assistance!", Percy's voice roared outside the door. A faint laugh could be heard from Ginny's room and Ron got startled out of his thoughts and torpedoed the toilet bowl, nearly blasting him into the ceiling.

XxX

"Ron, you know that full moon is in a few days, are you going to take another Mandrake leaf?", Hermione asked. She had been researching, but was not very successful at finding any methods to help Ron with his goal.

"Yeah, I will. Not looking forward to it, but what can you do.", Ron said, while looking at Hedwig and Crookshanks chasing a few unlucky gnomes around. "That reminds me, the gnomes have been acting really funny lately, something must have happened while we were at the world cup."

"Maybe Crookshanks did something to them, but he is undoubtedly very lazy, so I don't know.", Hermione replied. "And one thing Ron, can I try how one of the leaves taste? I really want to know, especially since the cup."

Ron grinned but kept his cool. "Alright, lets go down and you can taste one."

Arriving at the shed, Ron picked a leaf out of one of the pots. It protested and a muffled complaint about turning bald was heard. He looked at it, then turned to Hermione with a big smile. She took the leaf and gave him an unsure smile in reply.

Hermione put the leaf in her mouth, her eyes turned wide and she had to fight the urge to vomit. After 2 seconds, she lost the fight and vomited right at Ron. He had been expecting it and ducked preemptively, the stream of vomit missing him but hitting a squirrel at the tree behind, blasting if off. Ron returned to the horizontal, looked at Hermione and she vomited again, this time in his face.

The following apologies, interrupted by bad attempts at holding back the urge to giggle and a few insults regarding the fact that he had not warned her, weren't of much help for Ron.

XxX

"Hermione, Ron, I need to talk with you.", Harry said to the two after Ron had cleaned himself. They walked up to Ron's Room and closed the door, settling on the bed and chair.

"What's up?", Ron asked.

"My scar is hurting again, far more than ever before. I think Voldemort is planning something.", Harry said with a very concerned expression. "I already wrote to Sirius. Hedwig has brought me his letter, although she was here with it, Merlin knows why…"

"Blimey, mate, that's not good.", Ron said. He was not in the mood to think about other problems than what had just happened with Hermione and the Mandrakes.

"Oh Harry... what does Sirius say?", Hermione asked.

"He told me to talk with Dumbledore, I probably will as soon as possible.", Harry replied.

Ron had gotten far more interested in the little high-pitched noise he heard coming from the twin's room. They had decidedly avoided him since the little incident with the breakfast, but that usually meant a far worse fate later on. He was not looking forward to be back at school with them, they were extraordinarily cruel to him over the summer, along with Percy but he was not going back to Hogwarts.

"Ron!", Hermione shouted. He was back in the room with them, unwillingly.

"What? Oh yeah, get help from Dumbledore. He will know what to do", he said.

Hermione sighed and Harry looked at him questioningly. He would have to hear a tirade from Hermione very soon.

XxX

"Crookshanks! Come here Crookshanks!", Hermione called for her pet. Harry was beside her, Hedwig already perched and enjoying his soft pets. Ron was still in his room, trying to catch Pigwidgeon.

"Get down here you bloody owl! I have to get everything packed and you are not staying here!", Ron nearly screamed at Pigwidgeon. He had lost his patience long ago, and the paranoia about a new prank from the twins or Percy was wearing him down. Pigwidgeon gave a loud hoot for a reply. The little owl started to dart around the room, far too fast for Ron to catch.

"You should really get down here now, I am not afraid to force you!", Ron screamed. The veins in his neck stood out and his left eye twitched. Pigwidgeon still hooted.

'Alright, if that is what you want, you can have it.', he thought, untied his shoelaces and took his shoe in his hand. He aimed a bit in front of the feathery snitch and chucked it. Pigwidgeon moved in a different direction at the last moment and came very close with the fake boots of Hermes. The shoes didn't come to a stop, smashed the window and hit Percy on the head.

Ron could not care less, throwing his cushion at the bird. The two collided and Ron grabbed the tiny bird, which bit his finger. Cramming him into the cage, Ron sighed his relief.

"Ron, here is your suit for the school.", his mother called from outside the door.

Ron looked and saw a hideous, disgusting eight centuries old suit in front of him. Why him?

Outside, Percy jinxed the shoe to kick Ron's butt.

XxX


	11. Back to School

XxX

The first day of school started as bad as it possibly could. Outside it stormed, Pigs and little children were blown away by the enormous wind and inside, misery reigned. The water supply had been poisoned and the pregnant women miscarried. At least that was what Ron had hoped for, the storm was just fairly windy but nothing worse than that. School could wait until he actually wanted to go and such things normally had priority.

Coming down the staircase, his giant trunk in tow, he nearly stumbled and fell down when his father rushed by. Clothing on the wrong way and his brush in his mouth, while the toothbrush was in his hair. Molly had called him down, Mr. Diggory's head sat in the flames of the fireplace and asked for his assistance. Harry seemed to wonder if the Weasleys were cannibals and his breakfast would be an unruly associate of theirs.

His siblings and Harry had just sat down at the breakfast table and started eating, when Mr. Weasley made a beeline from kid to kid to wife and for the door. After hurried goodbyes to everyone, he stepped out of the door and was picked up by the wind, having to apparate in mid-air. Molly and the older Weasley Children were left to fight the storm and none of them were looking forward to it.

Eating the breakfast, Ron did his best to keep the leaf in his mouth. He had to eat as much as possible, the next real meal he would only get at Hogwarts during the far away opening feast. 'Curse Dumbledore and the Ministry idiot that approved the idea. Putting the lives of children at stake, that's what this is. Not eating lunch for a whole day, bloody barmy maniacs!', he thought. Percy arrived at the breakfast table.

"Percy, does Mr. Crouch know that you are buttering your toast from the inside out to the edge? Seems like you would need a license for such an operation, even more so after you work directly for the Head of Magical Law Enforcement. They could put you in Azkaban, you know!", George said to him.

"Oh, how very funny you are this morning, dear brother. I must say, I nearly choked from laughter. And Mr. Crouch is the Head of the Department for Magical International Cooperation, you idiot!", Percy said to him with contempt.

"Boys, be nice! You won't be seeing each other for a long time and you don't want to go apart fighting.", Misses Weasley said from the kitchen counter.

After having a tug of war with Errol over a large piece of bacon, Ron had to pull the leaf out of the ack of his throat so that he wouldn't choke. Hermione and Ginny watched the two, shaking their heads and sighing, their brains somehow shrank the older they got. While Percy was busy reading the Newspaper, Fred put a few white little rocks in his hot chocolate.

The Weasleys explained to Harry who Mad-Eye Moody was and what he did, as he had asked why Arthur went out so early. All having packed up and said Goodbye to Percy, who was staying here because of his undoubtedly very important work, they waited for the Muggle Taxis. Ron just then realized that if he had not lost the leaf, he would have been an Animagus by today. His shell-shocked state was interrupted by a screaming Percy, apparently he had found the Marzipan Monsters. Fred and George were shooing the rest of the family in the cars and they made their way to Kings Cross. Percy had opened his window and tried to hex them, but was hit with an unwanted shower that nearly destroyed his work.

The journey to Hogwarts could begin.

XxX

The train started to move, the parents at the station waved Goodbye to their children and Ron's Mother hurriedly reprimanded the twins for the prank they played on Percy, before she and the two oldest brothers waved Goodbye too. Harry, Hermione and Ron settled in one of the remaining free compartments and watched the rainy London streets go by. There rain had caused a flood recently, as most houses were up to the roof underwater, while in the distance Tornadoes sucked up the entire water of the Thames and a few Muggle subways could also be seen flying around.

In the next compartment, they could hear Draco Malfoy talking about how important his father was and how he should have gone to Durmstrang instead of Hogwarts. Harry had left the cabin to use the restroom and Hermione thought of ways on how to hex Malfoy, should he decide to visit their compartment. Ron meanwhile amused himself by wrapping the leaf around his tongue and pretending to have swallowed a snake, then again nearly choking on it.

During lunchtime, the Harry had bought a huge load of cauldron cakes from the trolleywitch, something Ron was very grateful for. Dean, Seamus and Neville all made a visit to their compartment and they talked about the Quidditch world cup and how awesome it was.

Then, a curious Albino ferret opened their compartment door, accompanied by two overly large racoons. The animals looked at the huge stash of cakes, made a run for it and nicked it all, running to the very first train wagon. Ron chased and screamed after them, but to no avail. Sadly, Malfoy and his two cronies, Crabbe and Goyle, had heard his little outburst and invaded the compartment.

"Weasley, are you really so poor that you have to chase after wild animals so you don't starve?", Malfoy sneered at Ron, who rapidly went red. Hermione put her book down, Harry gripped his wand and the other boys watched what was going to go down. Crabbe and Goyle guffawed stupidly, after the few seconds it took for them to understand the joke.

"Shut up, Malfoy!", Ron commanded. Draco lifted his eyebrow and a grin started to etch itself into his face.

"And why would I do that?", Malfoy asked with a provocative voice.

"Because I will banish you into the Black lake if you don't do.", Hermione said with a firm voice. Malfoy looked at her with anger in his eyes, a wrinkle on the side of his face showing disgust.

"You filthy, little Mud…", Draco began but saw Rons, Harrys and Seamus' wand aimed at him. "Muggleborn, we don't want any trouble here now do we. Carry on with whatever it is Halfbloods and Bloodtraitors are doing in their spare time.", he said and started to march away, Goyle and Crabbe in tow.

Hermione got up, marched out the cabin and send stinging hexes at Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy whipped around and she turned his hair blue and nose green. Returning to the cabin, she found that all of them had watched her and were laughing heartily.

XxX

The horseless carriages transported them to the great Hogwarts castle. Ron felt sorry for the first years, they had to take the boats across the lake and could not sit in the warm, cozy carriages. Moving to the castle, they saw the Black Lake as it was at 3 times capacity. The giant squid was hurling his giant tentacles out of the water and onto the mountain top, it presumably wanted to see another lake, while the merpeople assaulted Hogsmeade. They were angry at the Hogsmeade inhabitants, as they took a liking to shooting spells at them and Grindylow fishing. Especially the domesticated Grindylows of the Merpeople, since they make good pets.

In the castle, Ron could smell the food from the kitchen from afar and his stomach started to grumble. Peeves, who originally planned to shoot waterbombs at the students, heard it and thought the Bloody Baron had found him and wanted to take a bit of his anger out. He made himself invisible and dropped all the Waterbombs, before escaping through a wall. The waterbombs all hit Ron on the head, making him scream in terror.

Settling in the Great Hall, they watched the new first years come in. All of them were soaked wet to the bones and they shivered like an earthquake. McGonagall set the little stool in front of them and placed the Sorting Hat on top of it. It came to life, looked around for a short while and started to sing it's song. Ron was only somewhat envious of it, since it was a hat it could be lazy all year long, except for the first day of school. But it had to think of a song every year for a thousand years, that had to be a terrible life nonetheless.

Harry had asked him, why the song was different than it was when they were sorted. Ron explained his theory to him and imagined himself as the hat. When the sorting finally was over and Dumbledore officially opened the feast, Ron could truly say that he was happy. The people around him could not, the stench from his breath had filled the surrounding area while he drooled about food.

Hermione seemed to be absolutely mad, as she had an argument with Headless Nick. He had let slip that House elves work at Hogwarts and Hermione had asked about their treatment. After everything had been explained to her, she was deep in thought. It could not mean anything good.

After his 4th helping to desert had been devoured, the food disappeared and Dumbledore started his speech. Informing them about all the things they were not allowed to do and all the things they were not allowed to have, he progressed forward to the Quidditch House Cup. And how it would not be during this year. Harry and his brothers nearly fell of the bench, while he himself choked on the leaf. Dumbledore continued to why it would not be when he was suddenly interrupted by a loud Bang.

XxX


	12. The Grand Finale

**A/N: This is it, the Grand Finale of Ron, the Animagus Extraordinaire. I hope that you enjoy it, please leave a review with as much constructive criticism as you can, I would really like to improve my writing! Merry Christmas to everyone! **

XxX

The door next to the teachers table opened and the World's most famous Auror, Alastor Moody, stepped in. His wooden leg clunked heavily and the lightning blue eye swirled around, looking at each and every face in the Great Hall. Every face was staring back at him. Making his way over to Dumbledore, they exchanged a quick welcome and he settled at the table. Dumbledore returned his attention to the students, introducing them to their new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher and asking them to clap. Nobody did so, because they were still shocked from his entrance and Moody couldn't be bothered to care, his hipflask being far more interesting than the room's occupants.

"As I was saying, we are to have the honour of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event which has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to announce that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this very year!", Dumbledore said to the sea of smiling students.

"YOU'RE JOKING!", Fred screamed, right in Ron's ear and the mashed potatoes his brother was eating hit him right in the face. The tension that had filled the hall broke immediately, everyone laughed and Ron was not sure if it was because of Fred's comment or because of his unwilling target practice. Even Hermione had an impossible-to-hide grin on her face.

"No, Mr. Weasley, I am not joking, though now that you mention it, I have heard an excellent one over the holidays. A troll, a hag and a leprechaun all go into a bar –"

"Ahem!", Professor McGonagall interrupted, but Dumbledore ignored her.

"- and each of them orders a large Butterbeer.", Dumbledore continued, already snorting and starting to laugh.

"AHEM!", McGonagall interrupted again, this time using the Sonorus Charm. Snape's forehead and it's continued attempt at impaling itself threatened to break the table. Dumbledore still continued, far too focused on telling the joke.

"The barkeeper says –", Dumbledore went on. McGonagall had enough, this was too important to be ruined by the Headmaster. She aimed her wand and transfigured the lower end of his beard into an anvil, while the upper half became thick chains which were still attached to his chin. Dumbledore got pulled down by the weight and slammed his head on the podium, screaming in pain when the anvil landed on his foot. The students watched highly amused as they saw a Dumbledore hopping on one foot, clutching the other in agony and pulling the anvil behind him. Snape meanwhile broke the table and McGonagall transfigured her glasses into a soundproof helmet, so that she too could beak the table. Sheer chaos reigned in the Great Hall, several students had passed out from laughing too much and forgetting to breathe. Ron was secretly grateful for that, as he did not want to hear the insults about his breath.

Ron did not pay much attention to it all, he was far more concerned with getting the mashed potatoes from his face. Dumbledore meanwhile had managed to pull his wand out and, transfigured and healed himself back to normal and petrified McGonagall. He went back to the original topic he wanted to talk about. In the middle of explaining the elaborate tournament and its history, he said the words "Durmstrang and Beauxbatons will be arriving in October", to which Ron piped up.

'They are coming here?', he thought to himself. 'In October? If Krum is part of the ones coming here, oh Merlin, I have to be an Animagus by then. Krum would be so impressed by this that he surely wants to be friends with me!", he imagined and got very excited.

Ron started to daydream while Dumbledore continued and explained the limitations. At hearing that only those of age are allowed to take part in the tournament, the twins became unnervingly angry and swore to use every tool at their disposal to get into it, no matter how impartial the foretold judge would be. A cold shudder went over Ron's back, he had the feeling that he would be a tool at their disposal, whether he wanted to be or not.

Dumbledore finished talking and sent his students to bed. Fred and George did not follow that order and moved up to face Dumbledore, declaring that someone like him will not stop the two greatest pranksters Hogwarts had ever seen from entering. Ron did not move from his seat, as he had started to daydream about another thing, that thing being a thousand galleons price money to be exact.

Hermione and Harry had to shoo him out of the great hall, Fred and George following swiftly after being threatened with detention from Snape. While they walked, Ron noticed that the leaf in his mouth started to smell again, really bad this time. While they went back to their house, Hermione declared her stance on elf rights, something Ron did not pay any attention to.

"I have had enough of the maltreatment elves get in the wizarding world. From now on, I will not accept any services from them in this castle. They have worked so hard for everything and not been paid or even acknowledged for all of it.", she said to Ron and Harry while they walked. Both of them only looked at her, Harry having to hold back the laughter and Ron only being confused. Hermione huffed and marched away to the library, looking outraged.

In the Gryffindor common room, they bid each other goodnight and moved to the appropriate dormitories. In bed, Ron continued to imagine himself next to Viktor Krum and being able to transform into his Animagus form, proving to everyone that he too can be someone special.

XxX

Crookshanks was very grateful to be back in Hogwarts. The house elves always treated him with the greatest respect and petting was the bare minimum of affection he got when they met him. Being a well-known and beloved guest of the kitchen had its benefits too.

It was no problem that he was only at Hogwarts for one year, they treated him like an old and dear friend and he knew to appreciate it. Nothing would stop the joy that was the companionship with the house elves, nothing at all.

XxX

The next day, regular school and its many horrors started again. No one of the trio, save Hermione, was in anyway supportive of this, not even of the principle. Ron and Harry came unwillingly down the staircase from their dormitory, only to find a very happy Hermione waiting for them.

"What is up with you two?", she asked them. "Oh, I know, I'm sorry. You hate school, however one could come to such a conclusion."

"Who needs school when you can do magic? Only idiots, that's who!", Ron exclaimed, weirdly desiring a verbal fight with Hermione. Or maybe he was just too tired to wake up by himself, getting someone else to do it was just the way he liked it.

"Oh Ron, you are such a charming gentleman! No, really, I mean it. But you are not going to ruin this wonderful day with your stupid comments, no matter how hard you try.", Hermione smiled back at him.

"Hey! Both of you stop it right now, it's far too early for your stupid fights and contests.", Harry interjected.

"But –" "Shut it!", Harry said forcefully. "Let's go, Breakfast will be over soon and you are not the reason I am going to miss it.". Hermione and Ron stopped fighting, only periodically sticking out their tongue and making very rude hand gestures while they went to the Great Hall and the deliciously smelling Breakfast.

At Breakfast, Hermione started to spread butter and jam on a toast, to which Harry and Ron found to be very amusing, considering the opinion she declared yesterday. While Hermione rolled her eyes and proceeded to explain why she would not be a radical revolutionary, Ron pulled out the new 4th year timetables and went through their new lesson plan.

"Today's not bad… outside all morning, Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and Care of Magical Creatures… damn it, we're still with the Slytherins…", he complained while eating Breakfast Cereal.

"Oh Dear, oh My! What is that infernal stench, even I can smell it!", the Bloody Baron exclaimed as he flew behind Ron. The redhead overheard it and choked on his cereal, tears starting to stream from his eyes, "WHA?", Ron barely managed to cough out. The Bloody Baron found the source of the tormenting scent, drew his sword and started to chop violently at the boy's neck and stabbing him through the chest, but the sword moved through the flesh without any resistance. Nearly Headless Nick watched longingly from the entrance and fumbled with the tiny bit of ghost flesh that was left at the edge of his neck, trying to pull his head off. Two small first year Ravenclaw girls saw him from behind and ran away screaming.

"Come on, we have to get to Herbology.", Hermione commanded them halfway through Breakfast and the two boys groaned. On the way to the Greenhouses Ron caught up with Hermione, a question burning on his mind.

"Hermione, why does no one complain about my breath? Yesterday everyone hated me during the Great Feast.", he asked her while panting for air. Even she did not complain about it.

"Ron, I said that I would help you and that I want you to succeed with becoming an Animagus.", she told him with a smile. "Yesterday after the feast, I went to the library with Professor McGonagall. I wrote to her during the holidays, asking about a few school related things you don't care about and she agreed to meet me when we got back here. There, after quite a bit of nonchalant banter that might have included a few jabs at you and your behaviour towards studying, I asked about how she became an Animagus. I might have implied that I wanted to try it, and she rather willingly told me about it. The firewhisky she had to calm herself and Dumbledore down probably eased the questioning quite a bit and she instructed me to do a charm Professor Dumbledore had taught her to help with the smell. I snuck into your dormitory last night and cast it on you, your breath would have killed Harry and the others if I hadn't! But apparently it only affects things that live, the ghosts can still smell it. Maybe you should use it as your weapon against Peeves…"

"You what? Why did you not tell me?!", Ron nearly shouted in her face.

"Because I wanted to wait for you and see how long it would take until you figured it out. You did it a lot faster than I expected, to be honest.", Hermione chirped back at him. "Oh, and one more thing Ron, if you want me the charm to last until you finish the whole thing, you will have to sign something."

"What? What do I have to sign?", he asked her, horror written on his face.

"Only that you support me in the fight against the unjust treatment of House elves and will do so until they have finally been freed from the tyranny of wizards and witches everywhere!", she started to rant. "And you know, if you don't do that, the charm will be cancelled and I won't help you with your homework ever again."

"But… what, no I can't…", he stuttered, unable to form a sentence. Hermione giggled and fastened her pace, as they had arrived at the greenhouses, Ron stumbling after her.

Professor Sprout explained the plants in front of them and how they should be treated. Ron was still too preoccupied with thinking about his future standing with the house elves, to listen to her. Grabbing the Bubotuber plants with his bare hands, he squeezed hard and the disgusting yellowish and green liquid shot all over him, bringing him back to the horribly painfilled present day. All hell broke loose and Ron sprinted around wildly, Professor Sprout hot on his heels. Running around the tables while screaming in pain, Ron tripped over someone else's foot and barely managed to stay on his own feet. The professor caught up and forcefully tackled him to the ground. She quickly performed the healing spells while the students roared with laughter and some got the disgusting liquid all over their hands too, but the dragonhide gloves saved them.

"Mr. Weasley, have you not heard what I specifically said before? They have to be handled with extreme carefulness, for your and the others safety!", Professor Sprout scolded Ron after they got up.

"But Professor, I did – "

"You did not listen, that's what you did. I watched you being unconcentrated and careless from the start, and you can't blame school stress for this, it is quite literally the first lesson you have this schoolyear! 15 points from Gryffindor for that. You should be happy that Madame Pomfrey did not see this, she would have given you a months' worth detention if she could.", the Professor interrupted. Ron tried to argue, but she would not listen.

'What a great start… ', Ron thought while his face reddened under the outraged stares of his fellow Gryffindors and the laughter from the Hufflepuffs.

XxX

Hagrid had lost his mind, Ron was certain of it. How could any sane mind come up with the idea of creating Blast-Ended Skrewts and then raising them? It was simply impossible, end of story and most definitely not a Happy End. First the Dragon and now this, the man was utterly insane.

"And why would we want to raise them?", Malfoy asked. In this one, singular instance, Ron agreed with his hated rival, Draco Malfoy. But only this one time, not ever before and not ever again. Draco and Hagrid got into a fight and while Draco, Hagrid and Hermione sorted out their little discrepancy, Harry took one of the Skrewts and it exploded right into his face, blackening it and looking like a bad attempt at disguising like Seamus. Ron saw it and couldn't stop laughing, which gave Harry enough time to take one the little things on an adventure, right down the back of Ron's robes.

XxX

"Yes, my child, a dire future awaits you if you continue on this path! Very dire indeed.", Trelawney breathed directly into Ron's face. It was obvious that she enjoyed the cooking sherry a bit too much and Ron nearly threw up.

"Okay, probably should stop then.", Ron answered. She didn't move, but continued to stand directly in front of him, her gigantic eyes directly peering into his, as if searching for something. It was equally possible that she just forgot where she was and what she should be doing as a jon, but he did not dare to ask. Ron did not know what to do, unsure if he should say anything or not, his mouth opening and closing undecided and desperately trying not to puke from the stench of alcohol. But Trelawney was united as one with her inner eye and peered into the future of the world. Her spiritual connection latched onto the first person it could find, that person being Ron, trying to see what the future holds for him. Just as the Ghosts could smell his breath, so could her soul and it did not like it. Trelawney's eyes went black, she toppled over, hit the table and the mystic orb was launched into the air, flying in a beautiful arch and landing on her head.

XxX

Back at Dinner, everything had returned to regular. The Gryffindors still shot disdainful glances and a few Spitballs at Ron, since they were 10 points in the negative, compared to Ravenclaw and Slytherin which were both 20 points ahead. At least no one went after him for his smelly breath.

Draco had just been delivered the Daily Prophet and saw his opportunity to go head to head with Ron. "Your Dad's in the Newspaper, Weasley! Looks like he got arrested, listen to this!", he shouted to Ron, but everyone in the Great Hall heard him. They stopped eating Dinner and eagerly anticipated the next fight.

"Recently under fire for the poor crowd control at the World Cup, and still unable to account for the disappearance of one of its witches, the Ministry was plunged into fresh embarrassment yesterday by the antics of Arnold Weasley, of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office.", Malfoy read, though he had a few problems reading this much at once. "Imagine them not even getting his name right, Weasley. It's almost like he's a complete nonentity, isn't it?"

Ron went red and Hermione tried to deescalate the situation.

"Ron, don't listen to him, he is just trying to provoke you! Please control your temper, we will get him back another time. Not while everyone is watching, sometime else, alright?", Hermione tried to calm him down.

Ron's breathing became heavy but he managed to control it, doing his best to listen to her advice. "Okay."

"Good, good. Look Ron, have you thought about what we talked in the morning, are you willing to join the cause?", Hermione asked.

Ron had not really given any thought to the whole thing. But today nobody, except Trelawney, had noticed his breath and it was really nice, so at least that was a great benefit. Not having to do anything about the leaf was really nice and Ron did not want to lose it, so his answer was "Yes.".

"I knew you would listen to me! Thank you! You won't regret this, it will be really fun and help those poor elves, they are treated so horribly.", Hermione said. She started to tear up as she thought about all the terrible things she had seen happen to them and swore to fight against this abhorrent treatment. Burning down the Purebloods and their disgusting culture, that is what she was going to do, whether they liked it or not.

"Uh yeah, no big deal. I'm really excited!", Ron said unenthusiastically to her. She beamed back at him, hoping to keep his mind fixated on her and not Draco's very impolite comments about his mother.

Harry came to his friends aid and started to defend Ron and insult Malfoy back. Fred and George had also listened to the exchange and fumbled in their bags.

"You remember the World Cup, Malfoy? Tell me, who wet his pants again and had to be brought to the hospital? You, my dear Draco, it was you, but I don't think any less of you, you were there with you mother and I totally understand fainting at the sight of her!", Harry shouted at Draco.

"Don't you dare insult my mother, Potter!", Malfoy said with a slightly pink face.

"Keep your stupid mouth shut then!", Harry said and turned around to look at Ron. Suddenly, a Bang echoed and graced the left cheek of Harry. He, Ron and Hermione gripped their wands and turned to face Malfoy, when a second Bang shook the Great Hall.

"OH NO YOU DON'T LADDIE!", Moody shouted at an albino ferret that was in Malfoys place. He had his wand out and aimed at him.

"Potter, Weasley, Granger, are you alright?", he questioned them while conjuring a small tornado right beneath the ferret. After making sure that all of the three were alright, he got to the fun part.

Crabbe and Goyle both watched horrified as the ex-Auror marched on their position. Abandoning their leader, which currently spun around his own axis 400 times per minute, they took off towards their dormitories. Moody aimed and set Goyle's pants on fire, while Crabbe's shoelaces entangled themselves and he tumbled down a staircase.

"Now on to you, Malfoy. I don't like it people who attack when their opponents back is turned.", Moody growled at nearly blacked out ferret. "Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do…", the ferret blacked out and he revived it. He stopped the tornado and just levitated it up and down. "Never –" THUD "do –" THUD "that –" THUD "again!" THUD THUD THUD. Fred and George used this one of a lifetime opportunity to smuggle a few MaMos into Malfoys bag. The Slytherins were in for a rough night.

"Professor Moody!", a very shocked voice called. Professor McGonagall was coming down the staircase, looking very irate.

"Professor Moody, what are you doing?", she asked.

"Teaching!", he answered.

"Is that a student? Professor Moody, is that a student?", she demanded to know.

"Well, it might not look like one, but it just so happens to be the Malfoy boy.", he answered with a grin. A very quick smile crossed her face but she regained her composure fast, still taking her time to consider what to say next.

"Professor Moody, what you are doing is not alright. For punishing students, we give them detention and talk with their head of house. Please transform him back.", she asked him to do. Moody did so and Draco Malfoy regained his normal form. The boy looked at the Professor and used the best of his acting ability to play angry instead of scared, but failed miserably.

"Alright boy, let's go see your Head of House. That would be Snape, wouldn't it?", Moody barked at him.

"When my father hears –", Draco started.

"I asked you if Snape was your HEAD OF HOUSE, You stupid boy!", Moody roared.

"Yes", Draco said with a very small voice.

"Then let's go. On the way there we can talk about your dear father, I know that blonde diva from old and I can tell you stories that will even curl your greasy hair. MOVE!", Moody shouted at Draco and he ran forward, whimpering and trying to hide the wet spot in his pants.

Harry, Ron and Hermione, along with the rest of the Great Hall laughed even hours after this had happened.

XxX

"Ron, come here!", Hermione said to him. Ron looked up from his homework and shot a questioning glance at her.

"What is it?", he asked. She motioned impatiently for him to come to her. Ron got on his feet and made it seem like he was annoyed, but was in reality immensely grateful for her intervention in his dire future.

"I need you to help me with this.", she said to him, pointing at a large ball of yarn and two knitting needles.

"What? What should I do with that?", he asked her.

"You know how you promised to help me free the house elves, I have a plan on how we are going to achieve that. We, alright maybe just you for a start, are going to make clothes for them. Then we are going to make sure that they get it, maybe hiding them in the common room, and so they will be free.", she told him happily. Ron looked at her, then at the needles, back at her and then at the window. This could not be happening, Hermione had cracked. Her brain was not, should not, think this way. She was absolutely barmy, not even Hagrid could compete with that.

"No. Hermione, no, this is not going to happen.", he told her as sympathetically as he could.

"Oh Ron, I suspected that you were going to say that and I just have this urge to remind you that you agreed to sign the magical contract. You would better do your best to keep this contract, you know what is going to happen if you don't.", she said with a, in Ron's opinion, manic smile.

She had him there, now it was not such a good idea to agree to her contact. But not having to worry about his breath was just too tempting to ignore. Maybe he could convince her to start with something other than actual labor, as she would probably not give him permission to use magic, something along the lines of "solidarity with the elves" most likely going to be the excuse.

"Please just let me make a suggestion Hermione!", he pleaded. She gave him a proving look and nodded slowly.

"How about we write down what we want to do first, you know, like a declaration of your, I mean our, goals for the house elves?", he asked her hopefully. Her eyes lit up and she scrambled for a quill and parchment.

"Oh yes Ron, that's a good idea, a really good idea!", she said and started to write. S.P.E.W. was born that night.

XxX

The next day, the three had the first lesson of Defense against the Dark Arts, taught by Professor Moody. Already at the door it proved to be a rather unusual lesson. Malfoy sat at the very back of the classroom while Crabbe and Goyle sat at the opposite end in the very front, it was evident that Malfoy had found and tried the Marzipan Monsters. They did not even sneer at Neville, who had PTSD from his detention with Snape. The potions master seemed far more vile and awful than usual, particularly every time Moody came too close or he was forced to interact with him. The three took their seats and pulled out their books. Waiting for Moody, Ron enchanted a small paper ball to fly against Malfoys head, who in turn yelped in fear and ducked under the table. The sounds of Moody's distinct clanking came down the corridor and the room settled with absolute silence. While closing the door, his magic eye surveyed the room carefully.

"You can put those away, those books, you won't need them.", he growled. He walked to his desk and pulled out a list with names. After making sure that all were present, he continued to talk about the standards of teaching they had been used to.

"Your last teacher, Professor Lupin, wrote me a letter, describing what you had been taught in his class. You have a pretty good knowledge in tackling Dark Creatures, covered Boggarts, Red Caps, Hinkypunks, Kappas, Grindylows and Werewolves, is that right?", Moody asked them. A general murmur of agreement came for an answer.

"But you're behind, very behind, on dealing with curses. So I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I have got one year to teach you –", Moody said but was cut off.

"What, aren't you staying?", Ron rudely interrupted. He liked Moody very much, especially his treatment of Malfoy and did not want him to go. The magical eye spun around to examine Ron, who quivered under its stare.

"You are the boy of Arthur Weasley, are you not?", he nearly barked at Ron.

"Y- Yes, Sir!", Ron stuttered.

"Your father helped me quite a lot a few days ago… but yes, I will only be here for a year, then go back into quiet retirement. Doing this as a special favor to Dumbledore, asked me to come here and teach you lot.", Moody told him.

"So then, let's get right to it. Curses. They come in many forms and strengths. Now, the Ministry of Magic wants me to only teach you counter curses and leave it at that. According to them, I should only teach those in sixth year and above, since you are supposedly too young to learn them. But Professor Dumbledore recons that your nerves can take it, and I say the sooner you learn it, the better!", he lectured them while surveying each face. "A wizard who is about to put an illegal on you is not going to tell you what he's about to do. He is not going to do it nice and polite to your face, you need to be prepared, alert and watchful. And you need to put that away, Miss Brown!"

Lavender nearly toppled off her chair. She had been showing a horoscope to Parvati and not paid any attention to the teacher.

"So, which one of you can tell me the curses that are most heavily punished by wizarding law?", he asked the class. Ron slowly put his hand up and Moody looked at him.

"MALFOY! Your father, that old dog, he surely has a bit of experience with. …_one_. Which one am I talking about?", he barked. Malfoy shuddered, but only gave a glare of defiance as an answer.

"ANSWER! Are you stupid or what?", he shouted, both eyes now staring directly into the ones of Draco.

"The Imperius Curse", a very quiet whimper answered.

"Are you too important to address your betters?", Moody growled. "Or are you just too bloody stupid?"

"The Imperius Curse, Sir!", he said with a nearly inaudible voice.

"Detention this evening, I'll teach you manners!", Professor Moody said, unable to hide his grin and forming a face that could show either joy or contempt, it was very hard to tell with all the scars. "But yes, the ferret look-a-like is right, The Imperius Curse. Can someone tell me what it does?". Hermione was the first one of the Gryffindors that could stop laughing and put her hand up.

"Sir, the Imperius Curse forces the victim to do the casters will.", Hermione answered.

"Very good, Granger!", Moody grinned and pulled out a spider from a glass. "I will now show you how this looks. Engorgio! Imperio!", Moody incanted and the spider grew 3 times its size and did what the Auror commanded it to do.

The first thing it did was to fly around the room, then it landed on the blondest head of the class and build a web around Malfoy, while he screamed in horror, but could not do anything against it. The most powerful Slytherin was too afraid of Moody and did not dare to run, making Moody and the Gryffindors laugh uncontrollably.

"What other curses are forbidden?", he asked after they had their fun. A few other hands rose, but Neville's was one of the first. "Yes, you Longbottom!"

"The Cruciatus Curse, Sir!", Neville said nervously.

"The Torture Curse, a creation widely used in the last war. One of the Dark Lords favorites and most feared.", Moody said. He aimed at the spider and said "Crucio!". The Spider on his desk would have cried if it could. Its body contorted in horrible forms and seemingly begged to be killed. Neville looked at it and fainted, the sight being far too horrible for him. Moody stopped and revived him, making sure that he was alright and apologizing.

"And now, the last one. Who can tell me?", Moody asked. Nobody's hand went up and Hermione could hardly hold her tears back.

"The Killing Curse. Only one person is known to have survived it, and that person is sitting in this very room.", the man said and aimed at the spider.

"Avada Kedavra!" A green flash lit the room and the spider dropped dead on the spot. Ron's mouth gaped open wide and the leaf threatened to fall out. Harry had an empty look in his eyes and Hermione cried. The entire class looked shocked.

"This. This is what I am teaching you. Reality.", Moody said gravely to all of them.

XxX

Back in the common room, the dire future of Harry and Ron would be decided. Both of them were hunched over their Divination homework and worked feverishly to prevent the apocalypse.

"I believe that I will trip and fall down the staircase on Monday.", Harry declared and wrote it down.

"Yeah, and I will nearly choke to death on my Breakfast, but will heroically be saved by Snape, who has a change of heart and actually wants us to survive our school years.", Ron said. Harry looked at him and said: "That's too unrealistic Ron, Snape would probably stuff more toast down your throat. Even Trelawney is not going to believe that."

Ron crossed out his dire future and started to think about a more realistic one. The twins sat on the opposite end of the common room and were silently discussing the ways they could trick the much hated, impartial judge into letting them take part in the tournament.

"Ah, I know. A rogue bludger, enchanted by a house elf, is going to chase me up the Astronomy tower and I will fall down and impale myself on McGonagalls hat.", Ron said and Harry nodded approvingly. The portrait doorway opened and Hermione marched in, a bag in her left hand and a parchment in her right. She spotted the two and sat next to them.

"Harry, Ron, I have to show you something.", she said and opened the bag. In it, a few dozen badges spelling "S.P.E.W." could be seen and she pulled the shiniest one out and placed it in front of them, forcing their attention away from impending doom and towards the doom that just arrived.

"Harry, you need to join our organization, S.P.E.W.!", Hermione excitedly told him. "Ron has already joined and is very invested!". Her words were accompanied by a glare at Ron that would explode a weak-willed persons head.

"Uh, yeah mate, please join, it's insanely, bloody important!", Ron hastily said.

"Why would I want that? And what does Spew stand for anyway?", Harry asked bewildered.

"It's S.P.E.W. and it stands for "Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare" and you want to join that because you care about the treatment of House elves.", Hermione explained to him.

"…you should work on your sales-pitch, Hermione.", Harry said to her. Hermione's eye twitched. Harry preemptively clutched his inkwell, ready to pour it over her head should things go south.

"Mate, just join and she will leave you alo-", Ron tried to explain but Hermione cut in.

"What do you mean "work on my sales-pitch"? Do you not care about the House elves and their treatment? They are slaves, there is no other term for it! Exactly you are the one who should care about this, you have practically been a slave for you family and been treated like a house elf, if not worse!", Hermione nearly screamed.

Ron saw no peaceful outcome for the situation and tried to run for the dormitory, but got hit with a tripping jinx. He was staying here and only the strongest would survive. Trying to explain to Hermione that the elves like to work and live like they did was entirely useless. Her view of the world would not be influenced by the emotionless and amoral sociopaths that Harry and Ron seemed to be, after all who would ever see this treatment as right or even encourage it? And why in Merlin's name would any being want to live as a slave?

While Hermione bombarded Harry with horror stories and how poor Winky was treated at the World Cup, Ron returned to his horoscope for the future. Alternating between trying to calm Hermione down, arguing in her favor and getting Harry to join the noble cause, Ron thought of how dire his future was going to be. Finally, having calmed her down, they were too exhausted to finish their homework and went to bed. Ron dreamed of his future, how he was going to get eaten by a dragon, transformed into a potato by a sleepwalking McGonagall and how Snape would fart in his face.

XxX

Ron dreaded the next lesson with Moody. He had announced that he would put the Imperius on everyone of them, so that they would know how it feels like to lose all control over yourself. He was not the only one to worry about it, but Malfoy was by far the most scared. Moody was outrageously nasty to him outside of class too, using every opportunity to remind Malfoy who was in charge. A rumor went around the castle, saying that the Professor was still mad that Lucius Malfoy never went to Azkaban although overwhelming evidence spoke against him. Going against the family heir supposedly was his method to get Lucius out of hiding and to face him, testing the amount of loyalty the Malfoys would show to each other.

In class, the tables and chairs were pushed to the site of the classroom and they formed a circle inside the class. Moody motioned for Theodore Nott to step into the circle and cast the Imperius on him, making him do a handstand on 4 fingers. The casting went on with different people until he came to Malfoy, who visibly gulped.

"Imperio!", Moody snarled. Malfoys eyes dazed and his expression became free of all worries.

"Take your wand!", Moody ordered. Draco took out his wand.

"Throw it out the window!", he said with a smirk. Malfoy did not hesitate for a moment, turned towards the window and sent his wand on its maiden flight. Moody undid the Imperius and Malfoy returned back to reality, frantically looking for his wand. "Where is my wand? Did you take my wand?", Malfoy screamed.

"You threw your wand out the window, now go get it!", Moody barked. Malfoy looked at Moody, who beamed, then at Crabbe and Goyle, both of whom solemnly nodded. Malfoy sprinted out of the class, crying in anger. Moody continued with the lesson.

"Weasley, you're next!"

Ron moved into the middle of the circle and Moody aimed his wand. The next feeling Ron got was the best he ever felt, absolutely no worry was on his mind. It was absolutely amazing and he would do anything to keep it. The only thing he had to do to keep the feeling, was to skip over a chair, at least that was what the far away voice told him.

"_Jump over the chair…"_, The voice said. _"Jump over it."_

'Why not?', Ron thought while he started to drool. 'Wait, is my mouth open?'

"_Jump over the chair… jump…", _the voice continued. 'Oh Merlin, my mouth, mouth! I have to close it!', Ron thought and ignored what the voice told him. The ecstatic feeling lessened, but Ron did not care. No matter what, the leaf in his mouth had to stay in!

"_Jump! Jump now!",_ the voice commanded. 'NO!', Ron thought and fought as hard as he could to not listen to the voice. The feeling was nearly gone, before a final _"JUMP!" _but Ron did not. His focus was entirely on his mouth and he managed to close it and fight off the curse.

"Bravo, Weasley! I did not think that you would manage that! That was extraordinary, really good!", Moody praised Ron. The Gryffindors cheered while the Slytherins scowled, but Ron was just glad that the leaf was still in his mouth.

Ron was really happy, the leaf had to be in there for only a few days more, then he could finally spit it out and eat normal again. And the hardest part of becoming an Animagus was over. Dew, chrysalis and hair were ready, the only thing he was not prepared for nor had any control over, was the moon, but it should not be too big a problem.

XxX

"Meow?", Crookshanks purred at the house elf.

The cat was once again going on a midnight adventure and had just met a house elf on her way to the washing room. The house elf gave the cat a pitiful look and pulled on her ears, but resolved to not pet the cat.

Crookshanks was very puzzled by this behavior.

XxX

It was finally done, the month was over and Ron had been able to keep it in his mouth. Now just remained to wait for a moon ray. Being alone and sitting on the shore of the Black Lake in the middle of the night wasn't an enjoyable experience, but it had to be done. Harrys cloak was a lot of help, but not nearly as much as he would have liked.

He waited. And waited. In the small light from the Boat house, he could see a few ducks swimming, but they all got pulled under water at the same time. A few air bubbles were the only thing they left behind, and the giant squid let out a deep rumbling burb, the late night snack was apparently tasty enough. Ron thought twice about going too close to the water.

Then finally, the clouds parted and the moon shone on him. He took out his vial, put in the dew, the chrysalis and the hair and finally, spat the leaf into the vial. It was done, he was finished and now only waiting for a thunderstorm and saying "Amato Animo Animato Animagus" every day at sunrise and sundown until the first natural lightning storm.

Being freed was such a relief, he did not even get bothered by the party pipe Peeves blew in his ear and the detention Snape assigned him for being out after curfew.

XxX

Hermione had taken 2 hostages.

"You two, you will help me or I won't ever help you again.", She told the two tied-up unwilling participants. Neither of them knew where they were, no one could see anything, only hear their best friends threatening voice. "You will knit clothing with your hands for the house elves and only with your hands, you are not allowed to use magic."

"MHHHHM!", Harry screamed. Ron just waited for it to be over, too exhausted for another fight with her. The fight for the freedom of the elves had given her inhumane amounts of energy, it was amazing while at the same time horrible.

"I will cancel the charms I put on you and you should blink twice if you agree to my proposal!", she told them. Ron did so, but Harry would not bow and the fire of defiance lit up his heart, prompting him to stare directly into her eyes. Hermione just giggled and freed Ron from the Incarcerous hex she had put on him.

"Harry, do you really want me to never help you again? I know that I said this quite a few times in the past, but this time I mean it. I swear on the Hogwarts library that I mean it.", she said, the expression on her face more sincere than it had ever been before.

Harry remained defiant, but the stare became too intense, forcing him to blink rapidly.

"I knew that you would comply, that was not so hard, now was it?", Hermione said with a smile. Sometimes, she could really be scary, Scared-Voldemort scary that is.

"Well, let's get to it then. I already tried to get Ron to do this a few days ago, but he could convince me that it would be better to write the manifesto first. I suspected that he did not want to do the work, but in retrospect he was right. A written declaration of the goals of this organization is better than easily corruptible spoken words. But anyway, where was I? Ah, I remember, you have to knit the hats for the elves.", Hermione said.

"And what about you? Are you not going to do anything?", Harry asked.

"Of course I will! You just have to get the production started and I will join you as soon as possible! But since I am the leader of this movement, I have many other duties, public relations for example. A good public image is the foundation of any successful group.", Hermione said and started to write a new document, or propaganda leaflet as some would call it.

"You would be the perfect politician, Hermione…", Ron muttered while picking up. Hermione looked at him and smiled.

"Ron, the only politicians that achieve anything meaningful are far more ruthless than I am. Although, I bet that a squad of hitwizards at my command would be quite helpful in a lot of situations…", the next Dark Lady of Britain imagined.

That night, the elves assigned to clean the Gryffindor common room made a horrible discovery, but luckily none of them got hurt. Using a very long pole from the greenhouses, they searched the entire furniture for the hidden attempts at their life. Finally, after carefully inspecting every possible location and having found all the deadly devices, they took a close look at the hated clothing.

_Property of the elf who finds and wears it!_

_ If not found and worn by a house-elf, it is_

_ Property of S.P.E.W. _

_ CEO Hermione Granger_

XxX

"MEOW!", Crookshanks hissed, but the elf did not budge.

"Me is sorry, Mr. Crookshanks, but me cannot let you into the kitchen! Your missy is treating us very disrespectful, Mr. Crookshanks.", the elf said and was just about to close the kitchen entrance, but Crookshanks used the opportunity to rushed past into the kitchen, while dodging all the elves that tried to catch him.

"Mr. Crookshanks! Mr. Crookshanks, please stop the running! We knows is not your fault, but your Missy is really mean to us! We don't wants to do this either, Mr. Crookshanks!", another elf called. The elves of the kitchen were all sprinting after Crookshanks, who ran around the pots and pans, knocking many of them down and onto the heads of a few unlucky little elves. But no matter how good Crookshanks dodged and jumped, the elves were closing in fast. Suddenly he got grabbed by his tail and pulled into the arms of a sorry looking Dobby. Hissing and scratching desperately did not seem to have any effect on Dobby, his time with the Malfoys had enhanced his pain tolerance to an unnatural level. Winky did not even look up to for the spectacle, she just cried and gulped down her third bottle of Butterbeer.

"Me is so very sorry, Mr. Crookshanks, but you are not allowed in the kitchens. If it were for me, you would of course be allowed, but the other elveses don't wants you in here.", Dobby squeaked. He and a fuming Crookshanks were just out of the door and the elf gave a cooked fish to a grateful, but still angry Crookshanks.

"Me is really very sorry, Mr. Crookshanks, but I understand the elves. What Missy Hermione did is not okay, please tell her that she stops doing it, please!", Dobby said and left for the kitchen.

Crookshanks knew who the culprit was that denied him the heaven of Hogwarts, and the culprit would pay for it, dearly.

XxX

"Amato Animo Animagus Animo", Ron said, wand firmly pressed against his chest. "No wait, that was wrong!", "Amato Animagus Animo Animato", "Animagus Animo Animato Amato". This went on for a while, but in the end, he got it right.

The work he did for Hermione was taking a mental and physical toll on him, producing a dozen hats and mittens every night without magic was only possible through her presence. But he did not dare to go against Hermione and her plans, although he was more of a corporate slave than a valiant brother in metaphorical arms. She had proven that she could be positively evil should one decide to go against her.

XxX

Crookshanks had enough. After being continuously ignored by the elves during his nightly strolls and even threatened with a broom, he went to the common room and sought out the impromptu sweat shop. Harry had just finished his third hat, when the cat carried out an unprovoked assault on him, battling for the piece of clothing.

"CROOKSHANKS STOP!", Harry screamed as Crookshanks used his claws to crawl all over Harry.

"MEEOOOOWW!", the cat hissed, perched on his head and trying to claw the eyes out.

"STOP! HAVE THE STUPID HAT THEN!", Harry screamed and dragged Crookshanks off, shoving the hat over the cats face. Crookshanks hissed one last time and took off for the kitchen.

After many failed attempts, he finally jumped at the exact spot and the portrait opened. The elves looked at the entrance and took the nearest kitchen utensil to use as weaponry, but Crookshanks put up his paws as a sign of peace. The elves stopped their assault and looked questioningly at him. He slowly and carefully took the hat from his head and ripped it apart with all the strength left in him. The elves lowered their weapons and murmured among themselves, this was an interesting development. After Crookshanks had finished, the only thing left was the name tag. The cat pointed at the name "Hermione Granger" and let a claw slide across his throat. The elves cast a quick glance at each other and cheered loudly, carrying him above their heads into the midst of them.

The party went on for the entire night, causing a less qualitative and quantitative breakfast, to the great dismay of the students.

But now, the elves had a commander in their ranks that knew the enemy better than anyone. And they would use this to their advantage, the fight would finally turn in their favor.

XxX

'Where is that stupid Thunderstorm when you need it?', Ron thought. Saying the Animagus incantation every day slowly but surely drove him mad. School work also increased far more than ever before, only because the teachers thought it necessary to prepare them for the bloody OWLs. And because Snape was a git. He still had unwavering respect and support for Moody, but the longer he was here the nastier Snape seemed to become.

XxX

The house elves and Crookshanks were a formidable team. Under Crookshanks' leadership, they had made a part of the kitchen into a training ground for the elves. Crookshanks managed to teach them how to walk upright and properly, while also instructing them how to do a basic marching formation. If a group wants to be respected and given attention, an organized presentation was of greatest importance. Bumbling around unorganized and uncoordinated was absolutely unacceptable if one wanted to be taken seriously.

"Mr. Crookshanks?", an elf asked.

"Meow?", Crookshanks purred, the little eggcup on his hat making a formidable cap but threatened to fall off if he turned around too quickly

"Mr. Crookshanks, this is Witty, the smartest elf of us all. He can read and write, Mr. Crookshanks!", the elf said and pointed to one of the two elves behind him. Crookshanks looked at him questioningly.

"And Mr. Crookshanks, Sir, this is Carlita, she is the South American exchange elf, Mr. Crookshanks!", the elf said. Crookshanks purred approvingly and the elf left.

Crookshanks motioned for the two to sit down, but they stood at attention and ready for Crookshanks orders. Witty became Crookshanks' translator and they were able to write "The Declaration of Elvish Enslavement" and the "Treaty of Tolerable Treatment of Pets and Elfs".

Carlita got instructed to teach the elves a song of defiance they were in dire need of.

After a long time, the elves and Crookshanks were finished. The marching formation was as perfected as they could ever hope for and the singing of their anthem was absolutely abysmal, but it was as good as it would ever get. They practiced their formation for hours on end, nearly losing all hope in the process. Crookshanks in the very front, waving the banner of resistance and followed by all the elves of the castle, singing their anthem as loud and as proud as they could and at each corner an elf with a trumpet, supporting the chanting of their comrades. The elves united shall never be defeated, no matter the foe they were up against.

XxX

_TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT_

_ The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving_

_ At 6 o'clock on Friday, the 30__th__ of October. Lessons will end half an_

_ Hour early. Students will return their books and bags to their _

_ Dormitories and assemble in front of the castle to greet our guests_

_ Before the Welcoming Feast._

Ron was ecstatic, lessons ending half an hour early, meaning no Snape to terrorize and poison them. It was rumored that Krum should be part of the Durmstrang team coming here, but nobody was entirely sure about it. Even if it was not true, Ron would still be able to become an Animagus and could impress the visitors.

"Who is Cedric?", Harry asked after hearing Ernie Macmillan of Hufflepuff talking about telling Cedric.

"Diggory, the seeker of Hufflepuff. The one we lost the game to last year, and a bloody idiot.", Ron explained to Harry.

"Ron, Cedric is not an idiot. I've heard that he is a really good student and a Prefect, something you are not and most likely won't ever be, so don't insult him.", Hermione huffed. Ron was baffled at how mean Hermione could be.

"You only like him because he is handsome!", Ron spat back at her. While the two of them had another quarrel, Harry spotted a small elf in a far away corner, eyeing them suspiciously.

The rest of the week leading up to the arrival of the new schools was filled by chatter about the Tournament. Ron was in a far better mood than usual, as the weather got progressively worse the more the week dragged along. This was good, if this would go on, he would be able to transform.

XxX

The plan was finished, the elves and Crookshanks had worked long and hard on it. Soon it would end, the torment Hermione had inflicted on the elves and her poor, poor pet, and hopefully she would learn her much needed lesson.

It would be really simple, the elves and Crookshanks would all march into the Great hall during the Halloween feast and declare their unconditional love to their work, their unwavering support for their treatment and their disapproval of the S.P.E.W. methods. They even wrote an anthem for the event, they would sing it when the time had come.

XxX

It was the day, the day that Beauxbatons and Durmstrang would finally come to Hogwarts. The entire castle was electrified, everyone was far too excited for the event and the teachers did not manage to force a single word into their minds. Even the ghosts talked more than usual and Peeves got chased wherever he was found. Being one of the largest reasons for concern about the visitors safety, the Bloody Baron had resulted to truly gruesome methods of keeping him in line.

The teachers had been extra strict the week, reprimanding everyone severely if something went wrong and ordering them to not show it in front of the visiting students, as it would reflect horribly upon the school during such a prestigious event.

At 6 o'clock, nearly every student of Hogwarts had assembled in front of the school, eagerly waiting for the visitors. Ron looked at the sky, the stormy sky where thunder could be heard rumbling. Today would be the day, he would finally become an Animagus.

A voice cried "What is that?" and pointed at the sky. Everyone searched for whatever it was that transported them here, and they saw something small approach them. The closer it got, the larger it became and the better the outlines could be seen.

"A broom!", "A hundred brooms!", "No, it's a horse! A flying horse!"

The last suggestion proved to be the closest to the truth. A giant carriage, pulled by large golden flying horses. The students gasped as the carriage and horses landed, causing a rumble and a few knocked over students. The door to the carriage opened and a woman stepped out, a gigantic woman, a woman as tall as Hagrid. Dumbledore and, as he called her, Madame Maxime met and talked while the students had returned to the boys and girls that stepped out of the carriage. The pupils from Beauxbatons looked over the students, but their gaze fixated upon the impressive structure that was Hogwarts Castle and appreciative murmurs could be heard, alongside excited chattering in French.

Next came the ship from Durmstrang, a ship that travelled underwater and transported the pupils and headmaster Karkaroff. Looking down at the pupils, that all wore thick fur coats that made them imitate the physique of Crabbe and Goyle. Dumbledore and Karkaroff exchanged their pleasantries and he beckoned the students to come into the warmth of the castle. The last student they got a glimpse of, confirmed the rumors that made the rounds. It was Viktor Krum and Ron was more than happy. But he could not bother Krum for an autograph, he had to make himself interesting to Krum, and becoming an Animagus at only 13 was sure to make that happen. Who had ever become an Animagus at only 13? No one, that's who! Not even the much famed Marauders could do that.

Later at the Welcoming Feast, Dumbledore and Mr. Crouch explained how the selection process for the Tournament would be and presented the Goblet of Fire to the eagerly waiting audience.

"Aspiring Champions have 24 hours in which to put their name forward, the ones the goblets decides are most worthy will be chosen tomorrow at the Halloween feast!", Dumbledore explained.

Ron had a realization. If he performed the Animagus transformation in front of the entire school tomorrow after the champions had been chosen, he would give the school an extreme moral boost. After all, a 13-year-old Animagus was unheard of, and it would surely improve the champions performance at the tournament. Not to mention the praise he would get from the teachers alone, especially McGonagall, and the attention the other students would then pay to him.

That night, Ron borrowed Harry's cloak and snuck out of the castle, carefully taking along the potion. Passing a few Durmstrang students on their way to the goblet, he went out to the shore of the great lake. Rain poured down on him and the lightning storm gave the landscape a ghostly look, but Ron was not scared, this was perfect.

Arriving at a clearing next to the forest, he made sure that nothing would disturb him while performing the ritual and transformation. He had decided that he would not see what Animal he would become, he wanted to find it out at the same time with everyone else.

Placing the wand over his heart, he said "Amato Animo Animato Animagus" and a mighty thunder roared above him. Then he took out his potion, uncorked it and gulped the disgusting liquid down, leaving the familiar disgusting taste he abhorred. A blending lightning parted the night sky and Ron could feel it. His blood burned and the pain was nearly unbearable while his mind was empty of all thoughts and full of all his memories at the same time. He could feel his body changing, it had worked, he was an Animagus! The limbs became smaller, fur sprouted from every part of his body and his proportions morphed to live and accommodate in his new body.

He could feel that it was done, he had become an Animagus. His hearing and smelling had become far better than in his human form, but he could not tell what kind of animal he was and it was a battle of mental titans to keep his eyes closed and not look at his new body, but he could do it, he had to.

'How do I change back?', he thought to himself. But it was natural, the same way he just wanted to move an arm he could change back. The pain came again while he transformed, but it was not nearly as painful as the first time. Ronald Weasley was back, his regular human body was back. And Ron screamed and jumped in joy, he had managed to do it! He was an Animagus, he, Ron Weasley, the Ron Weasley had done it. He had done it, something that had never been done before.

'One more time!', he thought and transformed again, the pain was fully gone this time. This was awesome.

XxX

On Saturday, most of the students could not wait for dinner and the champions to finally arrive. Ron, Hermione and Harry all went to the Owlery, as Harry had to send another letter to Sirius. Ron and Hermione meanwhile waited outside of it, as it stunk horribly from all the Owl poop.

"Hermione, I did it!"', Ron whispered to her.

"What?", Hermione asked, apparently not knowing what he was talking about. Then the realization hit her. "YOU DID IT?! YOU ACTUALLY DID IT!", she squeaked loudly, unable to contain her excitement. "SHH! Don't say it so loud, please be quiet!", Ron hastily whispered to her and she clasped her hands against her mouth.

"Who did what?", Harry asked from inside the room.

"Nothing, I just farted on Hermione!", Ron called back. Harry gave a little laugh from inside, while Hermione smacked him on the arm.

"What did you become? Please tell me!", she whispered. "You will find out at the feast, like the rest!", Ron whispered back.

"No, I want to know now! I helped you become one after all, I deserve that!", she whisper-snapped at him.

"Hermione, I don't know myself. I kept my eyes closed and could not feel what I became, I will find out like you!", he whispered back. She glared at him and turned around, cursing him silently. Harry came back out and they went on their way towards the castle, Hermione trying to hex him a few times.

XxX

Fred, George and Lee came running down the staircase and into the Great Hall. Alternating between giggling madly and laughing triumphantly, they circled the Goblet of Fire.

"Dumbledore, although a Genius, is not going to be able to stop us from entering the Triwizard Tournament!", George declared loudly, so that everyone could hear him.

"We have devised a plan so ingenious, that only the mightiest and most ancient magic would be able to stop it!", Fred followed up once they had everyone's attention.

"And it would be foolish to go against it, for the true Champions are standing here before ye all!", Lee shouted with considerable showmanship.

"You are going to be witness to the best, grandest and most complex magic ever performed in this school. That your eyes and ears should be lucky enough to coexist with this event alone is simply extraordinary, but now see what we mean!", George announced. Every person in the Great Hall was now standing around the goblet, all attention focused entirely on the three.

"ONE!"

"TWO!"

"THREE!"

They jumped inside the circle. The circle seemingly accepted them and none were thrown out, but then it roared. The age-line had awoken and gripped them with a magic force, throwing them out of it and onto the stone floor. The students roared with laughter, as they saw the extremely long beards all three of them sprouted.

"I did warn you", a deep, amused voice said. Dumbledore had witnessed the best, grandest and most complex magic ever performed in this school and certainly enjoyed it.

"I suggest that the three of you go up to Madame Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett of Ravenclaw and Mr. Summers of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little, too. Altough none of them showed the considerable sales-pitch you three gentlemen did. Oh, and neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours, Mr. and Mr. Weasley!", Dumbledore chuckled.

XxX

The plan was simple.

Wait until the Champions had been announced, get up and run in front of the Goblet, declare that you are an Animagus and transform. Everyone in the Great Hall would look at him and his Animagus, every person would give him the attention he deserves. From Dumbledore and McGonagall to Malfoy and Snape, everyone would be impressed. Applauding would be the least that they could do and nobody would even think about calling him stupid or incompetent, not even Malfoy or Snape… not even they would dare to do that.

XxX

The plan was simple.

Wait until the Champions had been announced, open the doors to the Great Hall wide so that everyone could see them and march in, straight to Hermione's seat. Crookshanks would be in front, waving the banner of the elves and leading the way, the elves marching behind him, singing loud and proud and defying the oppression of the Tormentor. They would fight for their right to be enslaved, no being as evil as Hermione Granger would take it from them, never! She would not even dare to do it, she would learn her lesson.

XxX

The plan was simple.

Wait until the Champions had been announced and be happy for them, congratulate if necessary. Then they would get up and go back to their dormitories, change into their pajamas and sleep in the comfy beds.

XxX

"The champion for Durmstrang", he read in a strong, clear voice, "will be Viktor Krum!"

The school erupted in cheers and whistles as Krum got up and walked towards Dumbledore, who congratulated him amid Karkaroffs shouting and complimenting. Krum disappeared through the door and into a side room and the clapping and cheering died down.

The goblets flame turned red and another piece of paper shot out of it. Slowly it descended into Dumbledores hand and he looked at it.

"The champion for Beauxbatons", said Dumbledore, "is Fleur Delacour!"

Again the school erupted in cheers and whistles, every pair of eyes focused on her. She skipped up to Dumbledore and he congratulated her, biding her into the same room as Krum.

For a third time the goblets flames turned from blue to red and a piece of paper shot out and Dumbledore caught it mid flight.

"The Hogwarts Champion", Dumbledore called, "is Cedric Diggory!"

And once more, the Great Hall erupted in cheers and whistles, although this time the cheering was far louder and stronger than the two times before. Seemingly every Hogwarts student was cheering, but the Hufflepuffs were by far the loudest, some of them shouted until their voice left them. Cedric left his seat and walked towards Dumbledore, who congratulated him loudly before showing him into the little side room.

Now was the time.

Ron got up and sprinted for his life, directly to where the Goblet stood. Everyone looked after him and as he arrived, he surveyed his audience.

"I AM RON WEALSEY AND I AM THE YOUNGEST ANIMAGUS EVER!", Ron shouted as loud as he could and transformed. Ron opened his eyes and everyone gasped, exactly the reaction he had hoped for. Hermione clasped her hands before her mouth to stifle her laughter, while the Slytherin table could not contain itself. This was not how this was supposed to go and Ron looked down at himself, at his new Animal body. He was small, had red hair all over him, large black claws and a very bushy tail with extremely large teeth. This was not a dream, this was real.

Ronald Weasley was a Squirrel.

Suddenly the doors opened and all the house elves of Hogwarts marched in, led by the cat Crookshanks. Every head turned and they saw the most magnificent display of house elf unity one could imagine.

"_¡LOS ELFOS UNIDO, JAMÁS SERÁ VENCIDO!", _the high-pitched voices sung, or more accurately, screamed as loud as possible. Crookshanks was in the front, marching on his hind paws and waving the flag of oppressed elves and pets as high and far as he could. Spotting Hermione, they marched over to her and Witty pulled out "The Declaration of Elvish Enlsavement" and "Treaty of Tolerable Treatment of Pets and Elves". Clearing his throat and straightening himself, he started to read with his thin, high voice.

The Goblet had once again turned red and a new parchment fluttered out of it. Dumbledore had nearly forgotten about the Goblet, hadn't it been for the fire that started to ignite his beard, putting out the fire and catching the parchment at the same time, his eyes grew wide.

"LOOK, RON IS A –"

"Hermione Granger, I represent the –"

"HARRY POTTER!"

"WHAT? POTTER?"

"WEASLEY!"

"- your treatment of our kind –"

"HARRY POTTER!"

"WEASLEY, GET OVER HERE!"

"- United Front of mistreated House Elves and Pets –"

"AAAAAAHHHH!"

Complete Pandemonium broke loose in the Great Hall. Everyone screamed, laughed and looked around. Dumbledore marched on Harry Potter, who was entirely dumbfounded and McGonagall had passed out from the shock that was seeing Ron Weasley become an Animagus. Snape meanwhile had whipped out his wand and started to throw Hexes at the Squirrel. Ron was so disappointed that everyone had started to laugh at him, he was so disappointed that his Animagus only was a stupid Squirrel, he just had to leave. As fast as he could, he jumped on the next table, then on the student closest to him, and from then to the next head that was in reach, everything to get out of the Great Hall as fast as possible.

The Durmstrang students had seen Snape's wild throwing of Hexes and brought out their own wands, firing nasty curses back at him. All the remaining students thought that a full-on battle had broken out and a were either battling along or stampeding for the exit. The house elves were cheering loudly and whistled at every explosion, seeing all the work that the action in the Great Hall would cause them. Witty was still reading the parchment to Hermione, who had Crookshanks sitting on her head, clawing and forcing her to listen to their demands.

Hedwig had come back with a letter from Sirius and wanted to give it to Harry as quickly as possible, but could not find him in the absolute chaos. The only thing she could find was a Squirrel in the middle of the Great Hall, jumping from head to head and biting ears. The flight had made her really hungry, so she divebombed directly for the squirrel, snatching it in mid air and carrying it towards the owlery.

Mad-Eye Moody was far too involved in the fighting and forgot to drink out of his hipflask, which turned him back into Barty Crouch Jr. Hagrid was the only one that had seen the Transformation and bolted for him, unknowingly running over Flitwick and kicking him with a loud "NOOOO!" into the crowd. Hagrid slammed his gigantic fist onto Crouches head, taking him out of the fight and making him unconscious for three days.

The castle itself had awoken and used the best of its ancient charms to calm them down, but to no avail, the fighting continued. The Weasley twins saw this as a once in a lifetime opportunity, jumped onto the tables and flung their entire stock of Marzipan Monsters, Vocal Volcanoes and Choking Cherries into the crowds, hitting as many open mouths as they could.

Dumbledore had enough of this. He climbed on the table, cast a bubblehead charm on himself and conjured a giant firestorm under the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall. The air inside of the hall was sucked into it and everyone collapsed due to the lack of oxygen, the fighting stopped and only hundreds of passed out students, teachers and house elves littered the Hall. Dumbledore cancelled the charm and switched the air with the one from the Quidditch pitch.

The tale of the Troubles at the Triwizard Tournament would be told from student to student until Hogwarts closed its doors for the last time.

_THE END!_


	13. Epilogue

**A/N: Just a short epilogue, hope you like it! **

**That I don't own Harry Potter should be pretty obvious, but in case it isn't, I don't own Harry Potter.**

**EPILOGUE**

"NO HEDWIG! I AM NOT YOUR FOOD!", Ron shouted at her after they had arrived in the Owlery, the stinking, hooting hell that was the Owlery. 'Out of the frying pan and into the fire! Why me? Why, in Merlin's Name, is it always me!", Ron thought and lost control of his temper.

"HOOOOT!", Hedwig and a bunch of other owls hooted loudly as Ron wildly threw around hexes, aiming at everything that was not protected with a sticking charm.

"NOOOO! THIS HAS GOT TO BE A DREAM!"; Ron screamed. Not knowing what else to do and hoping that it was only a dream, he turned into his Animagus form again with the hope that he wouldn't be a Squirrel, but it only confirmed his worst fears and crushed his hopes. While he looked and pitied himself, an owl that had just returned from a long flight swooped down for her late-night snack. Ron threw the bird out the window.

Ron sat down and cried, his wailing went on the entire night and was even heard in Hogsmeade.

XxX

"Weasley, a word please!", Professor McGonagall whispered to him after the class.

"Mr. Weasley, I wanted to talk about your, well, outstanding achievement. I must say, and this is nothing but the naked truth, that I am more than impressed with what you have achieved. I am really proud of you.", McGonagall told him after the other students had left the class. It was the first time that he had seen her with a real smile. A real smile that crinkled her eyes and lifted the corners of her mouth.

It was the first genuine smile Ron had seen, that did not concern his Animagus form, but that he actually managed to do it. He had been depressed for the past 3 days, not even really caring about Harry and that he was chosen to be the second Hogwarts champion. Ron Weasley had gotten attention, but not the kind he desired. It was the kind he despised with a burning passion, the kind his brothers had given him so many times. And now, Professor McGonagall, the head of his house and second-in-command of the entire school praised him for becoming an Animagus.

"Thank you, Professor, thank you so much!", Ron told her with a very big smile.

"I would like for you to come to my office after school, so we can talk about how you managed to do this. Since you have done something so complicated at such a young age, I would really appreciate it if you told me this, I am sure, extraordinary tale.", McGonagall said to him.

"Yes Professor, of course. I will be there after dinner!", Ron answered.

"Very well. Now off you go, Professor Flitwick surely does not want you to be late!", the Professor said and Ron headed for the door.

"Oh, and one more thing, Mr. Weasley. 200 points to Gryffindor for your achievement! And because a wanted Death Eater was caught, which is also partly your achievement.", she said with a smirk. Ron could truthfully say that he was happy again, really happy.

XxX

"No, please, I beg you! I don't want to do this!", Hermione pleaded. She, Crookshanks and the House Elves from the kitchen all stood inside the Gryffindor Common Room. A clause demanded in the "Treaty of Tolerable Treatment of Pets and Elves" was that she had to be the sole cause for the most chaos and mess the Common Room had ever seen, only to watch how they would merrily clean it to absolute perfection.

"Missy Hermione, the contract you signed explicitly states that this, among various other activities, have to be solely caused and observed by you! Also, we will stop working every time you close your eyes, so you have to watch us do what we do best.", Witty informed her and the elves cheered in agreement. Crookshanks was lazily watching the thing from his favourite spot near the fireplace.

"No, I must have misunderstood… I mean, I can't do this! I just want to help you, don't you understand that? I just want to end the elvish enslavement!", Hermione cried.

"And we want to enforce elvish enslavement, Missy Hermione! I would advise you to remember the consequences for non-compliance!", Witty answered. He was now shouting and frankly fed up with the way the unruly student behaved. Hermione shot one last look at the elves, sighed and pulled out her wand.

"Confringo!", Hermione snapped. The curse impacted with the fruit bowl and it exploded, sending bits and pieces of Bananas, Apples and Mango through the common room.

"YAAAAY!", the elves cheered. "NOOO!", Hermione sobbed.

This continued for the next 30 minutes, all the elves cheering loudly whenever one of the blasting, cutting and incendiary curses hit anything in the room while Hermione hiccupped and cried uncontrollably. A flourishing betting ring had emerged among the elves and whoever tipped right on what she would destroy next would get to clean it all by themselves.

"Okay Missy Hermione, I think you have done enough damage for today. Now you just have to watch how we clean the room. Dobby even prepared one of the couches for you to sit on!", Witty happily exclaimed. Hermione stumbled onto the couch, devoid of all energy and emotion she could have used to make the elves think differently.

Crookshanks jumped on her lap and she absentmindedly started to pet him. The peaceful petting once he was on her lap was also a clause in the contracts she had to sign, although she would have much rather strangled him. Somehow she knew that he was behind this, her pet, the most loyal friend she could have turned against her. The elves were all singing the anthem of their movement and even she would sometimes start whistling _"Los Elfos Unidos…"_. The next few times she had to do such crimes against elvenkind broke her spirit entirely, her precious logic for living beings shattered in front of her eyes.

XxX

"Hem, Hem.", Umbridge declared her malice.

"Yes, Professor?", Ron asked, a feeling of helpless dread settling on him.

"Mr. Weasley, it has been brought to my attention that you are an Animagus. When I first heard of this, I wrote it off as a silly rumor, intended to harm the learning environment I conduct. But now, I must admit that I am just curious if there is a kernel of truth to this. Are you an Animagus, Mr. Weasley?", Umbridge asked.

Ron swallowed nervously and pearls of sweat started to roll down his forehead. "Uhm… No, Professor, I am not. I tried to become one last year, but failed."

"Yes, that does seem very likely. Funny that I believed you would be capable of doing something as tedious and complicated as mastering the Animagus transfiguration! Teehee! Mr. Malfoy does have a very sophisticated sense of humor, don't you agree?", Umbridge giggled.

"…Yes, I suppose", Ron said through gritted teeth.

"Very well, continue with your work. Oh, and 10 points from Gryffindor for not properly addressing a Professor.", Umbridge said with a faux smile and walked away.

In the back, Crookshanks ripped the picture of the purring cat into tiny pieces after it did not pay any attention to his third attempt to woo it.

XxX

"Good to see you, Wollombee!", Slughorn slurred and slouched away.

"First Ginny and now this, if he knew that I was an Animagus, he would not treat me like this! He would invite me to the Slug Club, purely because I am the youngest Animagus.", Ron said bitterly.

"He probably has heard about it, but written it of as a rumor because he deemed it sheerly ridiculous.", Hermione said and took a swig of her Butterbeer.

"What?", Ron asked bewildered.

"Ron, you are not seen as someone who could become an Animagus at such a young age. You are the Outlier, the irregularity. And you are generally horrible in school, so how could he believe it? ", Hermione told him. "Besides, if you so badly want to be in his special club, why don't you go to him and transform, proving that the rumors are true?"

Ron thought about what Hermione said and had to admit that she was right, it was far easier to believe that the Animagus thing was a rumor.

"Hermione, do you think that he would be able to keep quiet and not sell me out to the ministry?", Ron said. "Don't you believe that he would be all like "Oh yeah, among my students was the Boy-who-lived, You-know-who and the lad who became the youngest Animagus ever!", especially how easy it is to get something out of him when he is drunk. I would not have a week until the ministry knocks on the doors."

Hermione looked questioningly at him, then at the floor. "Maybe you're right. He would probably not stay quiet, and you are not an impressive Animal either, you are right, this would not end well.", Hermione said after pondering for a while. "Alone that McGonagall did not force you to register at the ministry is unbelievably kind of her."

XxX

"Ron, you know what you have to do. I know you will succeed.", Harry said and handed him the tiny vial of Felix Felicis.

"Ron, you can do this!", Hermione said, trying to be as helpful as possible. Ron sighed, took a last look at his two best friends and opened Felix.

"Here goes nothing!", Ron said and gulped the potion down. The best feeling he ever had filled him immediately, a feeling better than the Imperius.

"Alright, I'm off to Mom.", Ron said with no worries about their original goal. Harry and Hermione panicked and tried to grab onto him, but he apparated away.

One very delicious meal later, he took the house ghoul and apparated to Dumbledore's tomb, broke it open and picked one of the corpses hairs. Shortly after, a imperioed ghoul polyjuiced as Dumbledore and a Squirrel on the naked wizards shoulder flooed into the ministry for magic. While a gigantic battle between the Death Eaters and Dumbledore took part, Ron used his Animagus disguise to quickly locate Umbridge, bit her nose and took the locket.

Dodging the array of curses flung around, he darted for the line up of flooing points, only to run against the foot of Lord Voldemort, who kicked him back to inside the Pandemonium of the Atrium.

The Dark Lord became so enraged by the presence of his greatest foe, that he unleashed a gigantic fiendfyre snake upon him. Knowing that this tactic failed the last time, he made it a snake-spider-wasp hybrid that wreaked havoc on the ministry, destroying it entirely and killing nearly everyone that had not taken cover or could apparate away.

Ron could not really be bothered about that, he conjured a skateboard with a little rocket on the rear end and darted through the forest of moving feet. Some would later say that they saw a squirrel with jewelry on a rocket-powered skateboard hit against their feet, but they would not be believed, a ghoul impersonating Dumbledore was insane enough, clearly someone of the resistance had put a curse aimed to induce madness onto the ministry. Only Voldemort had saved them, or maybe it was all a dying fever dream, no one would really know.

XxX

"Harry Potter… The boy who lived, come to die", Voldemort said, his wand slowly rising to aim at Harry.

"AVADA –"

"Now Ron!", Harry screamed. Ron darted out from under the Invisibility cloak, jumped and transformed mid-flight. This was it, they had been training so long for this very moment.

At first, he seemed to be confused and did not know what was happening, but then Voldemort's eyes widened and he dropped his wand. Flinging both arms behind himself to clutch at his backside, desperately trying to delay the inevitable. So the Dark Lord met his demise, for neither can live while the other survives. Ron had entered the realms no one had entered before and no one should enter again, so he turned back to his human form, as this was the only way he could leave this dire dimension.

"AAAAAAAHH! MAKE IT STOOOO-", Voldemort screamed in rage, but the fear in his eyes was unmistakable. It was too late and Voldemort knew it, his end had come, Death would take him now.

The Dark Lord exploded, bits of white, scaly flesh flying in all directions and hitting the Death Eaters. All of the Dark Lords followers were confused beyond repair and that was the only thing Professor McGonagall needed. She turned from her Animagus form and took out the most dangerous foes, while Harry easily defeated the rest. Ron now was worthy to swing the sword of Gryffindor and pierced the head of Nagini, killing the last Horcrux and so Voldemort.

Voldemort and his Death Eaters were defeated, defeated by rather unusual methods.

"We… we did it!", Ron screamed in joy. The three of them formed a circle and jumped around in joy, they were the saviors of the world and this was the best day of their life.

"Thank Merlin we cut your through your scar with the sword, Potter!", McGonagall said. At that moment, Fawkes noticed that the Death Eaters and Voldemort had been defeated and sung his most beautiful song yet.

All lived happily ever after and their children had been given regular, acceptable names. Crookshanks, with immense help from the house elves, became the ruler of the world and everyone loved him, for he abolished money and made relaxation the new currency.


End file.
